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GOVERNOR    JOHN     ALBERT 


Copyright  by  Sweet 
JOHNSON 


LIFE   OF 
JOHN    ALBERT    JOHNSON 


THREE  TIMES  GOVERNOR 
OF  MINNESOTA 


BY 

FRANK  A.  DAY 

AND 

THEODORE  M.   KNAPPEN 


ST.  PAUL 

DAY  &  KNAPPEN 

1910 


OA.        U&S9SW 


Copyright,  1910,  by 
Forbes  &  Company 


Copyright,  1910,  by 
Day  &  Knappen 


•     •«    •  .  •  <•    • .  .  • . 

C       C        C      C    C  C       *  %  fr     *         *         .  I 


J 


PREFACE 

IT  has  been  a  labor  of  love  to  prepare  this  perma- 
nent record  of  the  life  of  our  dear  friend.  We 
were  so  near  to  him,  knew  him  so  well,  were  so 
profoundly  influenced  by  his  lovable  personality  and 
his  simple  greatness,  that  we  may  well  be  accused 
of  bias.  His  passing  is  still  so  recent  that  a  biog- 
raphy of  him  prepared  at  this  time  could  hardly  be 
expected  to  be  critical  and  exact.  Nevertheless,  the 
demand  for  an  authoritative  account  of  the  life  of  a 
man  who  so  profoundly  influenced  public  thought, 
who  so  strongly  appealed  to  the  popular  and  patri- 
otic conception  of  what  a  public  man  should  be, 
made  it  imperative  that  some  account  of  his  work 
be  published  while  recollection  of  his  personality  is 
still  fresh. 

We  believe  that  it  is  our  duty  to  the  public  to  ex- 
tend as  widely  and  as  soon  as  possible  through  this 
biography  the  influence  that  Governor  Johnson 
would  have  continued  to  exert  in  person  had  he 
lived.  We  hope  in  a  measure  thus  to  compensate 
for  his  loss  so  early,  so  unexpected  —  a  loss  that 
those  who  knew  him  well  realize  was  nothing  less 
than  a  national  calamity. 


419431 


PREFACE 

We  have  been  assisted  by  so  many  persons  in 
collecting  data  and  have  had  the  cooperation  of  the 
good  will  and  moral  help  of  so  many  others  that 
it  is  in  nowise  possible  to  make  complete  acknowl- 
edgment here.  We  are  especially  indebted  to  Mrs. 
John  A.  Johnson  for  her  authorization  of  this  work 
and  also  for  the  material  of  an  intimate  nature  re- 
garding the  Governor  which  she  has  supplied.  We 
are  also  especially  indebted  to  Mr.  John  Talman 
for  his  part  in  preparing  and  writing  chapters  sev- 
enteen and  nineteen,  to  Mr.  C.  L.  Wagner  for  his 
assistance  on  chapter  fifteen,  and  to  Mr.  Edward  A. 
Bromley  for  photographs  and  valuable  data. 

We  shall  feel  amply  repaid  for  our  labor  if  those 
who  read  this  volume,  pardoning  its  imperfections 
in  view  of  its  purpose,  shall  be  made  to  feel  in  some 
measure  how  great  and  good  a  man  has  gone  to 
his  reward. 

The  Authors. 


CONTENTS 

CHAP  PAGE 

INTRODUCTION n 

I.  MINNESOTA  ENVIRONMENT  .  13 
The  Minnesota  frontier  in  the  sixties. 
The  Indian  uprisings.  The  early 
settlements.  Social  conditions. 
Transportation.  Men  taken  at 
their  worth. 

II.    THE  RACIAL  INHERITANCE  .     .     26 

ihe  Scandinavian  peoples.  First  set- 
tlement in  America.  The  Great 
Migration.  Concentration  in  the 
Northwestern  States.  Remarkable 
blending  of  races.  Scandinavian 
contribution  to  America. 

III.  THE    IMMIGRANTS 38 

The  father  and  mother.  The  old 
home  in  Sweden.  The  struggle  in 
America.  Sorrow  and  hardship. 
Settle  at  St.  Peter.  Starting  a  new 
home.  Birth  of  the  future  gov- 
ernor. 

IV.  THE  BOY"S  STRUGGLES     ...     52 

Delivers  washing  for  mother.  Good 
record  in  school.  Goes  to  work  in 
a  grocery  store.  Becomes  drug 
clerk  and  general  store  clerk. 
Works  for  railway  contractors. 
Head  of  the  family.  Ends  mother's 
washing  work.  A  youthful  orator 
and  omnivorous  reader. 

5 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

V.    THE  JOURNALIST yi 

Johnson  seizes  the  first  great  oppor- 
tunity. No  funds  but  assisted  by 
friends.  Publishes  a  good  paper. 
Pays  debt.  Becomes  a  power  in 
the  community.  "  It's  a  Fact " 
column  attracts  attention. 

VI.    A  WIDER  CIRCLE 94 

Newspaper  work  widens  acquaint- 
ance and  activities.  Secretary  and 
president  Minnesota  Editors  and 
Publishers  Association.  Courtship 
and  Marriage.     Rebuilds  old  home. 

VII.     ENTERS  POLITICS 104 

Country  editor  becomes  state  senator. 
Makes  a  political  sensation.  De- 
feated for  reelection.  First  con- 
sidered for  governor  in  1902. 
Ideas  as  to  country  press. 

VIII.     FIRST     GUBERNATORIAL     CAM- 
PAIGN     119 

How  the  nomination  came.  John- 
son's characteristic  indifference. 
Devotion  of  traveling-men.  Dra- 
matic episode  of  attack  on  Johnson 
on  account  of  father's  weakness. 
Features  of  the  campaign. 

IX.    GOVERNOR      —      SUBSEQUENT 

CAMPAIGNS 130 

Campaign  of  1906.  Campaign  of 
1908.  Desperate  effort  to  escape 
nomination.  Popularity  greater 
than  ever.     Last  triumph. 

X.     POLITICAL  METHODS    ....   143 
Tolerance  and  the  open  mind.     Win- 
6 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

ning  personality.  Secrets  of  John- 
son's great  influence.  Cooperation 
with  legislature. 

XL  ACHIEVEMENTS  IN  OFFICE  .  .  156 
Railway  legislation.  Insurance  re- 
form. Strike  of  iron  miners.  Tax 
reforms.  U.  S.  Steel  Corporation. 
Royalty  and  tonnage  tax.  A  na- 
tional figure. 

XII.    THE    FAMOUS    GRIDIRON    DIN- 
NER         165 

An  occasion  that  made  the  Governor 
famous.  Central  figure  of  a  great 
gathering. 

XIII.  CANDIDATE    FOR    THE    PRESI- 

DENCY         176 

An  unwilling  candidate.  Not  am- 
bitious for  the  office.  Forced  into 
the  race.  Loyal  friends.  No  re- 
grets over  outcome.  Cordial  ac- 
quiescence in  result. 

XIV.  PRIVATE  LIFE 189 

Religion.  Wife.  Friends.  Amuse- 
ments. Habits.  Interests.  Con- 
versation. Story  telling.  Personal 
anecdotes. 

XV.    AS  A  PUBLIC  SPEAKER     .      .     .199 
Oratorical  method.     Most   successful 
when    speaking    extemporaneously. 
In  great  demand  on  the  lecture  plat- 
form. 

XVI.    JOHNSON  AND  THE  TIMES    .      .  227 
Attitude  toward  the  problems  of  the 
day.     The    tariff.     Relations    with 
Canada.     Radical  or  conservative? 

7 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

XVII.     PERSONALITY 239 

Physical  characteristics.  A  man  of 
strong  sympathies.  Active  but 
even  temperament.  Great  in  his 
simplicity. 

XVIII     ILLNESS  AND  DEATH    .     .     .     .248 
Of  great  vitality  and  vigor  but  long 
a  sufferer.     The  last  hours.     Meet- 
ing   death    bravely.     Public    grief. 
The  funeral. 

XIX.     GOVERNOR   JOHNSON'S   INFLU- 
ENCE   259 

What  it  was  and  might  have  been. 


APPENDIX 

PUBLIC  ADDRESSES,  PROCLAMATIONS  AND  WRITINGS 

TRIBUTES 

Fourth  of  July  Address 273 

Commercial  and  Political   Integrity     ....  279 

The  Norsemen 302 

Railway  and  Other  Corporation  Problems     .      .  308 

At  Vicksburg  Battlefield 319 

University  of  Pennsylvania  Commencement  Ad- 
dress      324 

At  Shiloh  Battlefield 359 

Proclamations 373 

Message  Vetoing  the  Tonnage  Tax     ....  382 

The  Country  Editor 389 

Editorial   Contributions 399 

Tributes 405 

8 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING   PAGE 

John  A.  Johnson Frontispiece 

Birthplace  near  St.  Peter 14 

Mother  of  Governor  Johnson 30 

Johnson  When  a  Youth 46 

Schoolhouse  in  St.  Peter 62 

Where  Johnson  Toiled  When  a  Boy     ....  70 

Governor  Johnson  at  Different  Ages    ....  78 

"  The  Herald  "  Office  at  St.  Peter 94 

St.  Peter  Scenes no 

Governor  Johnson's  St.  Peter  Home  ....  126 

The  Capitol,  St.  Paul 136 

At  Home  with  Relatives  and  Friends  ....  142 

Mother's  Home  in  St.  Peter 158 

In  the  Country  with  Friends 174 

Political  Cartoons 181 

Mrs.  John  Albert  Johnson 190 

Governor  Johnson  and  Private  Secretary  Day  in 

Consultation 206 

Portraits  of  Governor  Johnson 222 

9 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Governor  Johnson  at  Fort  Snelling     ....  238 

Funeral  Procession  in  St.  Paul 254 

The  Cemetery  at  St.  Peter  .......  258 

Memorial  Cartoons •  4°6 


10 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  Biography  of  Governor  John  A.  Johnson, 
prepared  by  Frank  A.  Day,  the  Governor's 
secretary  and  confidential  friend,  and  by  Theodore 
M.  Knappen,  also  a  close  friend,  is  a  work  of  great 
interest  and  value.  The  career  of  Governor  John- 
son was  remarkable ;  and  the  story  of  his  early  pov- 
erty and  hardship,  of  his  manly  struggle  to  support 
himself  and  his  mother,  of  his  education  and  train- 
ing for  life,  of  his  elevation  three  successive  times 
to  the  governorship  in  a  state  strongly  opposed  to  his 
political  party,  of  his  national  reputation  which 
indicated  that  he  might  some  day  be  called  to  the 
presidency  of  the  United  States,  is  a  story  which 
carries  with  it  many  a  lesson  for  the  boys  and  young 
men  of  America.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  con- 
victions and  of  unswerving  fidelity  to  what  he  be- 
lieved to  be  right.  His  delightful  personality  and 
his  charming  manners  —  his  frank  cordiality,  his 
outspoken  maintenance  of  his  opinions  while  he  was 
markedly  tolerant  of  the  opinions  of  others,  all  com- 
bined to  win  for  him  the  devoted  attachment  of  a 
multitude  of  people  of  all  parties,  and  the  mourning 

II 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

over  his  untimely  death  has  hardly  been  equaled 
by  the  mourning  for  any  other  citizen  except  Abra- 
ham Lincoln.  His  life  is  a  noble  examp/e  of  self- 
reliance,  industry,  honesty,  and  high  purpose. 

Cyrus  Northrop. 
President's  Office, 

The  University  of  Minnesota, 
Nov.  15,  1909. 


12 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 


CHAPTER  I 


THE    MINNESOTA   ENVIRONMENT    OF   THE 
SIXTIES 

JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON  was  born  and  bred 
on  the  frontier.  At  the  time  of  his  birth,  July 
28,  1861,  Minnesota  had  been  a  state  but  three  years, 
and  the  entire  population  of  the  large  county  in 
which  his  parents  lived  was  only  three  thousand. 
Ten  years  before  it  had  been  without  any  settled 
white  inhabitants  except  missionaries  and  traders, 
and  one  of  the  great  gathering  places  of  the  Sioux 
Nation  was  at  the  crossing  of  the  Minnesota  River, 
known  as  Traverse  des  Sioux,  only  three  miles 
from  St.  Peter. 

It  was  there  that  in  1851  Governor  Alexander 
Ramsey,  of  the  territory  of  Minnesota,  and  Luke 
Lea,  commissioners  representing  the  United  States 
Government,  negotiated  with  the  Dakotah  Indian 
bands  the  treaty  which  ceded  a  large  part  of  Min- 
nesota, west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  some  twenty- 

13 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

one  million  acres,  to  the  whites.  Immediately  fol- 
lowing the  ratification  of  this  treaty,  there  was  a 
rush  of  settlers  into  the  ceded  lands,  and  the  Indians 
were  reduced  to  a  reservation  strip  extending  along 
the  Minnesota  River  for  about  one  hundred  miles. 
The  confinement  to  the  reservation,  however,  in  no 
way  subdued  the  savage  character  of  the  tribes, 
and  in  1862,  when  the  infant  Johnson  was  only  a 
year  old,  Little  Crow  and  his  painted  warriors 
suddenly  rushed  forth  from  their  reservation,  and 
with  fire  and  the  tomahawk  laid  waste  all  western 
Minnesota,  and  attacked  and  besieged  New  Ulm, 
only  twenty-five  miles  west  of  St.  Peter.  Within 
a  few  days  over  eight  hundred  men,  women  and 
children  were  slaughtered  by  the  savages,  and 
hundreds  were  taken  into  captivity.  The  parents 
of  the  future  governor,  with  their  children,  fled 
in  panic  from  their  location  in  the  country  to  the 
little  village  of  St.  Peter,  then  but  a  few  years  old. 

Johnson's  boyhood  was  passed  among  men  and 
women  who  had  suffered  from  this  Indian  outbreak, 
and  from  the  first  the  lad  was  filled  with  love  of 
danger,  courage  and  adventure. 

The  boy  was  affected  and  moulded  by  other  con- 
ditions of  the  frontier  as  well  as  those  arising  from 
savage  ferocity.  Into  the  region  just  vacated  by 
the  Dakotahs,  poured  emigrants   from  New  Eng- 

14 


) 


MINNESOTA  ENVIRONMENT 

land,  the  Middle  West  and  the  Old  World.  Life 
was  hard  and  crude.  Society  was  unorganized. 
The  state  was  politically  in  a  formative  period. 
Civil  War  had  stirred  up  political  passions,  and 
many  thousands  of  the  best  young  men  of  the  new 
state  had  gone  to  the  front,  leaving  their  work  at 
home  unfinished.  When  the  future  governor  was 
born,  there  was  not  a  mile  of  railway  in  the  state 
of  Minnesota.  St.  Peter  and  other  towns  in  the 
Minnesota  Valley  received  their  supplies  and  com- 
municated with  the  outside  world  by  means  of 
steamboats  on  the  Minnesota  River,  stage,  ox-carts 
and  wagons.  There  were  no  telegraphs,  and  only 
by  letter  and  an  occasional  newspaper  was  intelli- 
gence received  from  the  great  world  to  the  east  and 
south. 

Those  who  have  seen  the  unharnessed  West  will 
understand  the  effect  on  an  impressionable  and  im- 
aginative youth  of  the  physical  environment  in 
which  Governor  Johnson's  boyhood  was  passed. 
Eastward  of  St.  Peter  were  the  big  woods,  a  noble 
forest  largely  of  hardwood,  notable  in  the  local 
annals  of  Minnesota.  Westward  were  those  rolling 
prairies  which  constituted  then  a  part  of  what  was 
known  as  the  great  American  Desert.  These 
prairies  were  still  covered  with  their  native  wild 
grass,  underneath  the  sod  of  which  was  the  accumu- 

!5 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

lated  fertility  of  a  million  decades.  In  spring  they 
were  green  and  flower  bedecked;  in  fall  brown 
and  waving  with  tall  grass.  Game  was  plentiful. 
The  buffalo  and  the  elk  had  not  yet  receded  beyond 
the  western  limits  of  the  state.  Indian  hunting 
and  war  parties  crossed  and  recrossed  the  prairies. 
Bands  of  traders  and  trappers  came  and  went. 
Trains  of  Red  River  carts  filed  by  in  the  long  jour- 
ney from  St.  Paul  to  Fort  Garry  in  Prince  Rupert's 
Land,  but  the  great  characteristic  of  the  prairie  was 
its  quiet  and  loneliness,  rarely,  if  ever,  disturbed 
by  man.  Lakes  and  streams  were  alive  with  water- 
fowl, the  prairie  chicken  abounded  in  the  grass 
lands,  and  in  the  spring  and  fall  myriad  thousands 
of  swans,  cranes,  geese,  brants  and  ducks  passed 
on  their  aerial  journeys  with  stirring  clamour. 
Truly,  the  prairie  has  its  charms  no  less  than  the 
forest. 

As  early  as  the  last  year  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, Le  Sueur,  representing  the  Governor  of  Loui- 
siana, had  entered  the  St.  Peter  (St.  Pierre)  or  Min- 
nesota River  from  the  Mississippi  at  St.  Paul,  and 
had  ascended  it  to  the  Blue  Earth  River  just  beyond 
the  point  where  nearly  two  hundred  years  later  the 
village  of  St.  Peter  was  to  be  established,  and  there 
erected  the  fort  styled  L'Huillier;  but  in  that  long 
interval   civilization  had   not   come  to   change   its 

16 


MINNESOTA  ENVIRONMENT 

aspect.  The  Indians  were  still  there  in  numbers  as 
large  as  ever.  They  had  concentrated  a  little  to 
the  west  of  their  favorite  haunts  of  a  few  years 
before.  Dakotah  and  Ojibway  still  fought  out  their 
ancient  feud.  The  land  was  untilled,  and  intermit- 
tent fur  trade,  French,  British  and  American,  for 
upwards  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  had  pro- 
duced no  permanent  settlements. 

Neill,  in  his  history  of  Minnesota,  gives  an 
account  of  a  trip  up  the  Minnesota  River  in  1850, 
on  one  of  the  first  steamers  to  ascend  that  river. 
"  The  scenery,"  he  writes,  "  the  further  we 
advanced  became  more  varied  and  beautiful.  Here 
there  was  an  extensive  prairie,  '  stretching  in  grace- 
ful undulations  far  away;'  there  a  wide  amphithea- 
tre encircled  by  cone-shaped  hills,  and  inviting  the 
agriculturist  to  seek  shelter  for  himself  and  his  cat- 
tle. Owing  to  the  high  tide  of  water,  we  passed 
quite  early  in  the  morning  some  rapids  without  any 
difficulty.  During  the  day  we  met  with  little  to  ex- 
cite us.  Now  and  then  we  would  pass  an  Indian  in 
his  canoe,  who,  frightened  by  the  puffing  and  novel 
appearance  of  the  boat,  had  crouched  behind  the 
overhanging  boughs  of  the  weeping  willow.  .  .  . 
In  the  evening  we  passed  a  bluff  of  sand  and 
limestone,  similar  to  those  so  frequent  on  the  Upper 
Mississippi,   which  is  called  White   Rock.     About 

17 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

twelve  miles  beyond  this  we  came  to  Traverse  des 
Sioux,  where  we  did  not  stop  as  we  were  anxious 
to  ascend  as  far  as  possible  by  sunset.  The  wood 
we  had  taken  with  us  began  to  grow  scarce,  and  a 
little  distance  above  this  point  the  boat  stopped,  and 
the  crew  and  many  of  the  passengers  began  to  chop 
wood.  While  engaged  in  this  occupation,  some  two 
or  three  Dakotah  Indians,  painted  and  plumed  and 
covered  with  perspiration,  galloped  up  on  their 
Indian  ponies.  To  pacify  them  and  pay  for  the 
wood,  which  it  was  necessary  to  take  from  their 
lands,  the  party  presented  them  with  some  sacks  of 
corn  and  treated  them  to  a  glass  of  fire-water,  which 
was  entirely  unnecessary.  At  dusk  the  boat  tied  up 
in  front  of  a  beautiful  prairie,  elevated  some  sev- 
enty feet  above  the  river;  and  there  those  whose 
tastes  and  principles  permitted,  danced  until  the  heat 
and  mosquitoes  forced  them  back  to  the  boat.  The 
view  from  this  prairie  was  intensely  interesting.  It 
was  bounded  by  a  belt  of  woodland,  and  upon  the 
opposite  side  were  slopes  most  beautifully  rounded. 
Upon  its  surface,  jutting  from  the  green  sward, 
were  boulders  of  every  size  and  shape,  looking  in 
the  dark  as  if  the  cattle  had  come  down  from  a 
thousand  hills  and  were  in  repose." 

Speaking  of  the  return  journey,  Neill  tells  of  a 
stop  at  Traverse  des  Sioux,  where  Mrs.  Hopkins, 

18 


MINNESOTA  ENVIRONMENT 

wife  of  Rev.  Mr.  Hopkins,  a  missionary  of  the 
American  Board,  in  charge  of  that  station,  told  him 
that  the  Indians  could  not  conceive  of  the  object 
that  led  the  white  men  to  navigate  a  stream  which 
was  not  theirs,  and  that  the  children  had  been  in 
through  the  day  to  tell  how  terribly  frightened 
they  had  been  by  the  steam  whistle,  and  to  inquire 
whether  it  was  a  human  being  or  the  boat  which 
had  made  such  an  unearthly  noise.  .  .  .  "In 
the  middle  of  the  afternoon  we  stopped  at  Six 
Village,  the  largest  village  of  the  Dakotahs,  about 
three  hundred  warriors,  squaws  and  children  were 
on  the  bank  eager  to  see  the  wonder.  As  the  steam 
whistle  screeched,  it  was  amusing  to  see  the  boys 
and  girls  tumbling  over  each  other  in  their  haste  to 
escape.  The  chief  soon  stepped  on  board  and 
demanded  a  present  for  the  privilege  of  navigating 
the  river;  he  also  contended  that  a  canoe  had  been 
broken,  but  as  he  did  not  give  the  company  ocular 
evidence  of  the  fact,  they  did  not  pay  him,  but  pre- 
sented him  with  some  pieces  of  calico,  provisions, 
and  a  box  of  Spanish  green.  ...  It  had 
been  demonstrated  that  steamboats  of  light  draught 
could  navigate  the  Minnesota,  by  the  removal  of  a 
few  obstructions,  at  all  stages  of  the  water,  to 
Traverse  des  Sioux,  and  even  to  the  Blue  Earth 
River.     In  a  year  or  more  the  Dakotahs  will  make 

19 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

a  treaty  and  leave  the  land  to  their  ancestors,  and 
then  in  an  incredibly  short  period,  the  war  whoop, 
the  scalp  dance,  the  skin  lodge,  and  the  canoe  of  the 
redman,  will  give  place  to  the  lowing  of  cattle,  the 
hum  of  children  conning  their  lessons  in  the  school- 
house,  the  neat  village  church  with  its  spire  point- 
ing heavenward,  and  a  frugal  and  industrious 
American  husbandry." 

All  this  was  the  condition  of  the  Minnesota  fron- 
tier only  eleven  years  before  the  birth  of  John  Albert 
Johnson,  and  so  much  was  it  still  the  unsubdued 
frontier  that  one  year  afterwards,  Little  Crow 
and  his  painted  warriors  scourged  the  Minnesota 
valley  as  no  other  white  settlement  had  been 
scourged  by  Indians  since  the  earliest  days  of  the 
settlement  of  French  and  English  in  America. 

This  rough  and  crude  environment  was  as  dif- 
ferent as  could  be  imagined  from  that  of  some  old 
community  in  the  East.  The  men  and  women  of 
the  little  village  in  which  Johnson  spent  his  boyhood 
were  invaders,  strugglers  and  conquerors.  They 
had  helped  in  wresting  the  land  from  the  Indians, 
and  they  were  now  engaged  in  conquering  it  with 
plow  and  axe.  The  native  Americans  in  the  com- 
munity were  strong  and  aggressive  men  and  women, 
with  individuality  well  developed.  Those  who 
came   from   foreign   lands,  though   lacking  in  the 

20 


MINNESOTA  ENVIRONMENT 

rough  and  ready  adaptability  of  the  American  fron- 
tiersman, were,  nevertheless,  brave  and  strong  to  risk 
the  perils  of  the  frontier  when  so  recently  from 
the  peace  and  security  of  their  old  homes. 

Life  was  not  humdrum  or  monotonous.  It  was 
full  of  incident  and  action.  Men  did  not  stagnate 
in  the  new  community  or  become  petty  because  of 
lack  of  connection  with  great  things.  Veterans  of 
the  Indian  and  the  Civil  War  fired  the  boys  with 
tales  of  martial  glory,  perilous  adventure  and  hard- 
ship bravely  borne.  The  settlers  felt  that  they  were 
building  an  empire  and  playing  a  great  and  essen- 
tial part  in  American  expansion  and  development. 
Come  but  lately  into  a  land  long  thought  too  cold 
and  northern  for  agriculture,  they  already  were 
confident  they  were  laying  the  foundations  of  one  of 
the  greatest  of  the  republic's  commonwealths. 
"  Our  brief  though  energetic  past,"  said  Governor 
Ramsey  in  1853,  "  foreshadows  but  faintly  the 
more  glorious  and  brilliant  destiny  in  store  for  us; 
nor  is  prophetic  inspiration  necessary  to  foretell  it. 
.  .  .  In  ten  years  a  state  —  in  ten  years  more 
half  a  million  people,  are  not  extravagant  predic- 
tions. In  our  visions  of  the  coming  time  rise  up  in 
magnificent  proportions  one  or  more  capitals  of  the 
North,  Stockholms  and  St.  Petersburgs,  with  many 
a  town   besides   only   secondary   to   these   in   their 

21 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

trade,  wealth  and  enterprise."  St.  Peter  felt  that 
its  chance  to  become  one  of  the  "  Capitals  of  the 
North  "  was  as  good  as  St.  Paul's.  Indeed  in  1857 
a  bill  changing  the  location  of  the  territorial  capital 
from  St.  Paul  to  St.  Peter  passed  the  House  and 
would  have  passed  the  Council,  but  for  the  abstrac- 
tion of  the  bill  and  the  adjournment  of  the  legis- 
lature while  it  was  still  missing. 

Those  men  of  the  early  day  saw  life  in  large 
outlines,  they  toiled  masterfully  because  they  knew 
they  were  making  history.  Life  was  good  to  them, 
full  of  big  and  stirring  events. 

The  boy  who  was  to  be  governor  of  the  Imperial 
State  forty  years  later  was  thus  inevitably  moulded 
and  bent  by  western  conditions.  He  was  a  western 
boy,  and  so  became  a  western  man.  The  American 
type  is  really  the  western  type,  and  that  was  John- 
son's type.  A  child  of  the  West,  loving  the  western 
land  and  western  characteristics  all  his  life,  it  is 
noteworthy  that  Governor  Johnson's  last  address  of 
public  importance,  that  at  Seattle  in  August,  1909, 
was  a  sort  of  battle  cry  to  western  men  to  rally  to 
the  standard  of  true  Americanism. 

The  old  West  was  essentially  democratic  in  the 
broad  sense.  It  took  men  for  what  they  were 
rather  than  what  their  forebears  and  social  stand- 
ing had  been.     The  man  of  action  and  accomplish- 

22 


MINNESOTA  ENVIRONMENT 

ment  was  the  only  aristocrat  the  West  respected  or 
tolerated.  It  was  the  land  of  the  men  who  did 
things.  There  was  no  place  in  it  for  the  unem- 
ployed, rich  or  poor.  This  fact  was  especially  fa- 
vorable to  the  development  of  Johnson  the  boy.  In 
an  old  community  with  its  fixed  social  distinctions, 
its  prejudices  against  newcomers  and  aliens,  John- 
son would  never  have  had  the  chance  he  had  in  the 
formative  St.  Peter.  He  would  have  been  made 
to  feel  that  he  was  not  to  the  manor  born  —  that 
he  was  without  the  fold  of  the  elect.  But  in  St. 
Peter,  John  Johnson,  the  child  of  Swedish  immi- 
grants, poverty-stricken  and  miserable,  always  felt 
at  home  —  that  he  was  among  his  own  people.  The 
community  had  no  ancient  scores  against  him. 
It  was  glad  to  take  him  just  as  it  took  everybody 
else  —  for  just  what  he  was  worth.  He,  at  least, 
found  what  his  parents  came  to  America  to  find  — 
opportunity  and  a  square  deal.  Thus,  there  was 
no  social  condition  to  embitter  the  boy  or  fill  him 
with  prejudice.  His  poverty  and  troubled  boyhood 
were  the  incidents  of  the  kaleidoscope  of  human 
life.  Fate  might  be  unkind  to  him,  but  men  were 
ready  to  help  him  as  he  earned  and  required  help. 
Johnson  never  lacked  for  help  or  friends.  These 
facts  account  for  his  unfailing  optimism,  just  as 
much  as  the  grimness  of  his  early  life  and  the  dis- 

23 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

asters  that  overtook  father  and  mother  account  for 
those  lines  of  sadness  in  his  countenance  that  were 
always  noticeable  when  his  face  was  in  repose. 

The  great  world  dawned  upon  the  dreams  of  the 
boy  as  a  free-for-all  contest,  and  with  the  good  fel- 
lowship and  unconventionally  of  the  West  he 
played  the  game  with  joy,  abandon  and  unconcern. 
The  free  and  easy  ways  of  the  western  community 
in  which  he  was  born  and  reared  left  an  indelible 
brand  upon  Johnson.  To  the  last  he  was  open, 
unaffected,  unpretentious.  Externals  meant  little  to 
him,  and  he  was  ever  undismayed  by  titles  and 
pomp  of  office.  The  American  West  had  taken  him 
at  his  worth,  and  he  in  turn  took  everybody  else  at 
their  worth.  Human  life  was  precious  in  the  early 
days  of  Minnesota.  Every  man  had  a  distinct  value 
to  the  community.  There  was  hardly  anyone  who 
could  be  dispensed  with.  This  importance  of  the 
human  being  was  always  large  with  Johnson.  The 
increasing  numbers  of  people  in  his  widening  circle 
of  acquaintance  and  influence  never  dwarfed  the 
importance  of  the  individual  to  him.  Human  life, 
no  matter  how  disguised,  deformed,  disgraced  or 
degraded  was  sacred  and  of  supreme  importance  to 
this  man.  The  West  conferred  on  him  that  price- 
less gift  of  appreciation  of  men,  and  he  repaid  it  by 
making  all  men  with  whom  he  came  in  contact  feel 

24 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

that  they  were,  however  humble  and  obscure,  of 
some  real  intrinsic  value. 


25 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   RACIAL   INHERITANCE 

GOVERNOR  JOHNSON  was  the  product  of 
the  western  American  environment  acting 
upon  and  being  acted  upon  by  the  Scandinavian  im- 
migrants from  whom  he  sprang.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  seek  out  some  legendary  ancestor  to  account 
for  the  element  of  heredity.  His  racial  origin 
could  hardly  be  better,  and  while  his  family  were 
the  plain,  common  people  of  Sweden,  they  had  in 
them  the  raw  material  which,  given  the  favorable 
environment  and  the  opportunity,  could  without  any 
miracle  be  transformed  into  distinction  and  leader- 
ship. They  were,  on  both  sides,  of  hard-working, 
frugal,  sturdy  stock, —  intelligent,  literate  and  self- 
reliant  ;  and  the  lapses  of  the  father  and  his 
departure  from  the  rule  could  hardly  be  expected 
to  affect  the  son's  inheritance  from  countless  gener- 
ations. 

The  Scandinavian  races  are  most  intimately  allied 
with  the  Anglo-Celtic  peoples,  and  are  to-day,  as 
they  have  been  for  a  thousand  years,  a  people  of 
great  vigor  and  a  high  degree  of  culture.     Sweden, 

26 


THE  RACIAL  INHERITANCE 

Norway  and  Denmark  have  played  a  large  part  in 
the  drama  of  European  politics.  In  the  Viking  age 
the  fearless,  blond  warriors  who  issued  from  those 
northern  regions  overran  a  large  part  of  Europe, 
and  their  stock  was  firmly  planted  in  France  and 
the  British  Isles.  Such  names  as  those  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus  and  Charles  the  Tenth  suggest  their 
achievements  in  a  later  age.  Paucity  of  population 
and  remoteness  from  the  main-traveled  roads  of 
commerce  and  history  have  kept  these  northern 
nations  from  being  conspicuous  in  international 
affairs  in  recent  times,  but  they  have  continued  to 
give  to  the  world  great  men  in  literature,  art  and 
science.  They  have  been  in  the  van  of  civilization 
and  social  uplift,  and  popular  education  has  there 
attained  a  stage  beyond  that  of  any  other  consider- 
able population  of  the  world;  only  half  of  one  per 
cent,  of  the  Scandinavian  population  is  illiterate. 
The  people  have  always  enjoyed  local  self-govern- 
ment, and,  in  Sweden  at  least,  the  growth  of  politi- 
cal organization  has  been  very  similar  to  that  of 
England.  The  Northmen  have  always  been 
characterized  by  a  passionate  devotion  to  liberty. 
The  strongest  characteristic  of  the  Vikings  was 
their  individuality.  They  were  willing  to  sacrifice 
all  else  to  remain  freemen.  The  Viking  migrations 
and  wars  were  largely  caused  by  the  unwillingness 

27 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

of  these  strong  men  to  submit  to  superiors  at  home, 
and  so  departing  in  numbers  they  conquered  Eng- 
land and  Normandy  and  created  the  kingdoms  of 
Naples  and  Sicily  and  were  the  forebears  of  those 
Normans  whose  haughty  captains  humbled  King 
Harold  at  Senlac  and  established  in  England  a 
nobility  that  would  not  submit  to  despotism. 
Sweden  and  Denmark  have  dethroned  despotic 
monarchs  and  Norway  dared  to  defy  all  Europe 
for  national  independence.  Individuality,  courage, 
love  of  liberty,  stubbornness  and  firmness  and  de- 
termination are  the  strong  qualities  of  the  North- 
men. Charles  the  Twelfth  was  typical  of  his  people. 
It  is  related  that  in  his  boyhood  he  examined  two 
military  plans.  One  showed  how  the  Turks  had 
captured  a  town  in  Hungary,  and  underneath  it 
was  written  this  line :  "  The  Lord  hath  given  it 
to  me,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  it  from  me ;  blessed 
be  the  name  of  the  Lord."  Taking  the  other  plan 
the  boy  wrote :  "  The  Lord  hath  given  it  to  me, 
and  the  devil  shall  not  take  it  from  me." 

In  most  of  Sweden  the  climate  is  severe,  the 
winters  long,  and  life  for  the  common  people  one 
of  constant  struggle.  But  where  nature  is  hardest 
and  soil  most  unproductive  men  seem  to  flourish 
best.  The  Swedish  peasants  were  never  serfs 
chained  to  the  soil,  and  they  twice  rose  and  tri- 

28 


THE  RACIAL  INHERITANCE 

umphantly  claimed  their  rights  with  the  sword. 
In  Norway  also  the  elements  are  stern.  "  The 
ocean  rolls  along  the  rock-bound  coast,  and  during 
the  long  dark  winters  the  storms  howl  and  rage 
and  hurl  their  waves  in  white  showers  of  spray 
against  the  sky.  The  aurora  borealis  flashes  like 
a  huge  shining  fan  over  the  northern  heavens,  and 
the  stars  glitter  with  keen,  frosty  splendor."  The 
people  are  independent,  democratic,  individualistic, 
venturesome,  world- faring.  These  were  the  con- 
ditions and  the  human  material  that  bred  the  Vik- 
ings and  sent  them  forth  in  their  dragon  galleys 
to  harry  half  the  world.  Similar  conditions  sent 
their  descendants  of  a  later  time  to  peaceful  settle- 
ment in  America.  Indeed,  the  Viking  age  wit- 
nessed the  discovery  of  America  by  the  Norsemen. 
Near  five  hundred  years  before  Columbus  sailed 
from  Palos  Lief  Ericsson  had  landed  on  the  coast 
of  Vinland. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  the  settlement  of 
America  by  the  North  Europeans  the  Scandina- 
vian countries  have  contributed  their  share  to  its 
development.  There  were  Scandinavian  settlers 
as  early  as  1630,  and  the  historic  Swedish  colony 
on  the  Delaware  was  founded  in  1638,  only  eighteen 
years  after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims.  In  this 
colony  the  Swedish  language  was  maintained  until 

29 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

well  into  the  nineteenth  century.  Men  of  the  Del- 
aware colony  have  left  their  mark  in  American 
history.  It  was  John  Morton  who  gave  the  cast- 
ing vote  of  Pennsylvania  for  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  it  was  another  descendant  of  the 
colony,  John  Anderson,  who  commanded  at  Fort 
Sumter  and  met  the  first  shock  of  the  rebellion. 
The  colony  of  Christina  was  the  outcome  of  the 
project  held  nearest  his  heart  by  the  great  Gustavus 
Adolphus.  As  early  as  1624  the  king  who  was  to 
die  in  victory  on  the  momentous  field  of  Lutzen, 
was  touched  by  the  religious,  economic  and  social 
unrest  that  turned  the  eyes  of  the  weary  and  op- 
pressed to  America  throughout  all  western  Europe. 
Had  Gustavus  Adolphus  lived  far  greater  things 
might  have  come  of  the  colony  on  the  banks  of  the 
Delaware.  The  colony  was  founded  with  high  and 
noble  motives  and  prospered,  but  had  the  great  king 
lived  to  put  the  force  of  his  driving  genius  behind 
the  settlement,  New  Sweden  might  have  played  as 
large  a  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  New  World  as 
New  Holland,  New  England  or  New  France. 
Dying  on  the  field  of  battle  in  one  of  the  greatest 
of  the  world's  religious  wars,  Gustavus  looking  be- 
yond the  foreground  of  the  world-drama  in  which 
he  was  acting,  bequeathed  to  Chancellor  Oxern- 
stierna,  "  the  jewel  of  his  crown  " — the  project  for 

30 


MRS.  CAROLINE   CHRISTINE    HADDEN   JOHNSON 
M.ii  her  of  l  Jovernor  Johnson 


THE  RACIAL  INHERITANCE 

a  new  Protestant  nation  beyond  the  seas.  Thus  the 
main  motive  of  the  Delaware  colony,  like  that  of 
Plymouth,  was  a  religious  one,  and  the  little  com- 
pany that  came  to  the  Delaware  in  the  good  ship 
Kalmars  Nyckel  deserves  to  rank  with  that  of  the 
Mayflower. 

Scandinavian  immigration  to  the  United  States 
continued  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries  but  did  not  assume  large  proportions  until 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  the  fifties 
and  sixties  thousands  of  the  Northmen  poured  into 
the  United  States,  and  they  continued  thereafter  to 
come  in  large  numbers,  the  high  tide  being  reached 
in  1882  when  107,000  arrived;  lately  the  annual  ar- 
rivals have  been  from  30,000  to  40,000.  The  mo- 
tives of  Scandinavian  immigration  to  the  United 
States  have  been  much  the  same  as  those  that  sent 
the  Vikings  faring  forth  in  former  times.  Irksome 
political  conditions  at  home,  scant  reward  for  hard 
toil,  a  desire  to  give  their  children  larger  opportuni- 
ties, the  glamour  of  American  freedom  and  the  fas- 
cination of  empire-building  tempted  them  to  the 
long  hard  journeys  in  tramp  freight  ships  and  the 
steerage  across  the  ocean  and  to  the  uphill  fight  in 
a  new  and  strange  land.  Coming  from  the  north, 
it  was  but  natural  that  they  should  seek  the  colder 
regions  of  the  United  States,  and  so  we  find  them 

3i 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

largely  concentrated  in  the  middle  northwestern 
states,  though  well-represented  in  all  the  northern, 
western  and  even  southwestern  states. 

Minnesota  has  received  more  of  the  Scandinavian 
homeseekers  than  any  other  state,  and  the  men  of 
that  race  occupy  and  long  have  occupied  a  conspicu- 
ous part  in  every  department  of  human  affairs  in 
that  state.  It  is  the  state  of  fair  hair  and  blue  eyes, 
and  the  blond  type  will  survive  there  long  after  the 
brunettes  have  become  dominant  elsewhere.  In 
Minnesota  the  Scandinavians  are  considered  most 
desirable  immigrants.  Poor  men  for  the  most  part, 
humble,  eager  to  work  and  to  learn  and  to  get  ahead, 
stalwart  and  strong,  they  were  from  the  first  prized 
in  a  state  where  there  was  much  to  do.  They  built 
the  railways,  felled  the  forests  and  tilled  the  soil. 
In  all  heavy  construction  work  they  are  much  missed 
in  these  later  times,  and  contractors  and  other  em- 
ployers of  human  power  in  large  quantities  may 
often  be  heard  to  regret  the  passing  of  the  "  good 
old  Swedes  "  for  such  work.  The  close  racial  re- 
lationship of  these  newcomers  to  the  native  Ameri- 
cans, their  universal  literacy,  their  physical  strength 
and  mental  ability,  their  energy  and  ambition  to 
rise,  have  led  to  an  easy  and  rapid  amalgamation. 
No  other  immigrant  becomes  an  American  so  soon 
as  the  Scandinavian;  the  American  born  children 

32 


THE  RACIAL  INHERITANCE 

rarely  know  the  language  of  their  parents,  and  in 
Minnesota,  and  in  the  Dakotas,  with  all  their  Scan- 
dinavian population,  there  is  only  an  occasional  com- 
munity in  which  the  old  language  survives  as  the 
daily  speech.  The  immigrants,  it  is  true,  fondly 
cling  to  the  language  of  Normannaheimen,  but  find 
that  English  is  necessary  to  a  close  touch  with  their 
children  and  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  their 
daily  life. 

The  Scandinavians  in  America  naturally  see  with 
a  clearer  vision  what  America  means  to  them  and 
what  they  mean  to  America  than  do  other  races. 
"  It  is  true,"  says  O.  N.  Nelson,1  "  that  Rolf,  Knute 
the  Great  and  Gustavus  Adolphus  have  had,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  a  great  influence  on  civiliza- 
tion. But  excepting  for  the  Thirty  Years  War,  the 
greatest,  and  for  the  human  race  the  most  important, 
memorials  of  the  Scandinavian  people  are  connected 
with  the  discovery  of,  colonization  in,  and  emigra- 
tion to  the  United  States.  John  Ericsson,  the  great- 
est Scandinavian-American,  was  more  of  a  bene- 
factor to  humanity  than  either  Rolf  or  Knute  the 
Great  or  both  together.  The  emigrants,  coming 
from  the  narrow  valleys  of  Norway,  the  mines  and 
forests  of  Sweden,  the  smiling  plains  of  Denmark, 
the  rocky  shores  of  Iceland,  with  hearts  of  oak  and 

*"  History  of  Scandinavians  in  the  United  States." 

33 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

arms  of  steel.,  are  building  empires  on  this  conti- 
nent."    The    dream   of    Gustavns    Adolphus   of    a 
Swedish  nation  in  the  New  World  was  not  to  be, 
but  his  people  have  indeed  built  empires  within  an 
empire  in  America.     It  has  been  said  that  it  is  pos- 
sible to  travel  for  three  hundred  miles  in  Minnesota 
without  leaving  land  owned  by  Scandinavian-Amer- 
icans.    It  is  estimated  that  there  are  in  the  United 
States  more  than  2,000,000  people  of  Swedish  de- 
scent, and  the  total  population  of  Scandinavian  de- 
scent has  been  estimated  at  as  high  as  4,000,000. 
In  1900  there  were  in  America  one-third  as  many- 
Swedes  as  in  Sweden,  one-fifth  as  many  Danes  as  in 
Denmark  and  one-half  as  many  Norwegians  as  in 
Norway.     Unlike  the  recent  immigrants  of  southern 
European   origin,   the    Scandinavians   are    farmers, 
and  the  hunger  for  land  is  strong  in  them.     They 
become  farmers  and  landowners,  and  thus  by  their 
occupation  emphasize  their  contribution  of  steady 
industry,  coolness,  calmness  and  conservatism  to  the 
American  "  melting  pot." 

The  northern  blood  of  Scandinavia  is  proving 
strong  reinforcement  for  the  Anglo-Celtic  blood  of 
the  republic.  It  serves  well  to  keep  the  equilibrium 
between  Teuton  and  Latin  in  the  great  racial  blend- 
ing going  on  in  America.  No  other  human  ma- 
terial comes  so  ready  for  shaping  by  the  conditions 

34 


THE  RACIAL  INHERITANCE 

of  America.  The  rapidity  of  transformation  is 
simply  marvelous.  Men  and  women  who  cannot 
speak  English  on  landing  in  this  country  are  soon 
in  the  thick  of  the  Northwestern  race  for  wealth 
and  preferment,  acting,  talking  and  thinking  as 
Americans.  It  is  remarkable  that  within  a  genera- 
tion the  facial  characteristics  that  mark  the  Scandi- 
navian newcomer  disappear.  The  change  is  often 
wrought  in  the  life  of  an  individual.  While  not 
enough  time  has  elapsed  for  men  of  Scandinavian 
blood  to  take  the  leadership  in  numbers  proportion- 
ate to  their  entire  population,  they  have  produced 
already  large  numbers  of  men  who  are  prominent 
in  business,  politics  and  education.  Senator  Knute 
Nelson,  one  of  the  strongest  men  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  was  governor  before  he  was  senator, 
and  congressman  before  that.  John  Lind,  three 
times  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and 
once  governor  of  Minnesota  and  Adolph  O.  Eber- 
hart,  the  present  governor  of  Minnesota,  are  among 
those  who,  with  the  late  Governor  Johnson,  have  by 
their  worth  attained  state  and  national  fame. 
Other  northwestern  states  have  also  produced  many 
leaders  of  Scandinavian  origin. 

The  conditions  of  removal  from  the  Old  World 
to  the  New  and  from  one  sort  of  a  civilization  to 
another  have  borne  hard  on  the  men  and  women 

35 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

from  the  Northland.     Far  from  home  and  family 
and  the  restraints  of  settled  relations,   individuals 
here  and  there  who  would  have  led  quiet,  humdrum 
lives  at  home,  have  yielded  to  vice  or  become  law- 
less, and  others  have  broken  down  under  the  ter- 
rific pressure  of  American  life,   becoming  wrecks 
cast  up  on  the  shore  of  the  sea  of  humanity.     Some 
observers  and  students  of  the  interesting  problem  of 
migration  and   fusion  of  races  now  proceeding  in 
America  under  peaceful  conditions,  think  that  the 
result  of  the  strain  and  shock  of  transmigration  are 
shown  in  inferior  stamina  in  the  second  generation 
in  America.     The  next  generation,  however,  having 
become  thoroughly  adapted  to  the  environment,  re- 
vert  to   the   stalwart   strength   of  the    forefathers. 
The  peasant  women  of  the  human  stream  Scandi- 
navia has  poured  into  the  United  States  are  strong, 
healthy  and  vigorous,  well-fitted  to  be  the  mothers 
of  men;  their  families  are  large,  and  since  in  the 
Northwest,  as  elsewhere,  the  native  American  stock 
tends  to  small  families,  the  dominant  race  element 
of   the    future,    though   American  to   the   core,    is 
bound  to  be  even  more  strongly  of  Scandinavian 
origin  than  now.     Such  being  the  case  it  is  reassur- 
ing to  know  that  the  stock  is  sound  and  sturdy. 
They  are  a  peaceable  people,  industrious,  frugal  and 
self-reliant,    characterized    by   moderation   and    re- 

36  ' 


THE  RACIAL  INHERITANCE 

straint.  Accustomed  to  self-government  at  home, 
intelligent,  inspired  by  American  opportunity,  they 
take  the  keenest  interest  in  politics,  and  have  no 
disposition  to  delegate  political  authority.  Popular 
government  benefits  by  their  coming.  The  early 
comers  sent  their  full  share  of  volunteers  to  the 
front  in  the  Civil  War  eager  to  fight  for  the  per- 
petuation of  the  Republic  even  before  they  could 
speak  its  language.  The  coincidence  of  the  Civil 
War  and  the  early  wave  of  Scandinavian  settlement 
in  the  United  States  led  to  their  general  identifica- 
tion with  the  Republican  Party,  and  in  the  main  they 
have  ever  since  stood  by  this  party;  though  of  recent 
years,  the  Norwegians,  somewhat  more  prone  to 
change  than  the  Swedes,  have  become  Democrats  to 
a  considerable  extent,  and  many  of  the  Swedes  have 
followed  the  leadership  of  men  like  John  Lind  and 
John  Albert  Johnson  into  the  Democratic  Party. 

It  is  not  possible  to  take  the  space  to  give  an  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  racial  conditions,  the  incidents  of 
immigration,  the  fascinating  blending  of  the  races, 
the  contact  of  the  Old  World  with  the  New,  but 
what  has  been  here  briefly  sketched  will  give  some 
impression  of  the  human  stock  of  which  John  Al- 
bert Johnson  came,  and  the  forces  that  were  affect- 
ing it  at  the  time  of  his  birth  and  boyhood  and  that 
affected  him  later  despite  his  Americanism. 

37 


4ii)<iai 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   IMMIGRANTS 

IN  the  fifth  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  all 
Sweden  was  filled  with  unrest.  The  revolu- 
tions of  1848  were  not  without  a  profound  effect 
in  Scandinavia.  The  common  people  were  stirred 
by  a  deep  desire  for  better  things.  They  felt  that 
they  were  hopelessly  handicapped  by  the  weight  of 
old  and  but  slowly  changing  institutions.  They 
heard  from  returning  friends  inspiring  tales  of  the 
opportunities  offered  to  thrift,  energy  and  industry 
in  the  great  republic  beyond  the  seas.  The  dis- 
covery of  gold  in  California  in  1849  served  not 
only  to  swell  the  throng  of  the  argonauts  from 
Scandinavia,  but  created  a  vast  impulse  among  those 
who  bore  the  main  weight  of  the  social  and  eco- 
nomic institutions  to  migrate  to  the  New  World,  pos- 
sess themselves  of  the  land  that  could  be  had  for 
the  asking  and  start  life  anew  free  from  the  impedi- 
ments of  an  ancient  and  fixed  order.  The  unrest 
penetrated  to  the  little  parish  of  Refteled,  Jonko- 
ping  Lane   (county)   in  the  Province  of  Smoland 

38 


THE  IMMIGRANTS 

and  to  Gustav  Jenson  it  came  as  a  new  stimulus  to 
hope,  as  the  call  to  a  new  and  better  life. 

His  father,  then  dead  some  years,  had  been  a 
small  landowner  and  farmer,  and  as  regards  worldly 
possessions  was  of  a  higher  class  than  most  of  the 
Swedish  people  who  migrated  to  the  New  World. 
He  had  several  children,  and  when  the  estate  was 
divided  or  otherwise  disposed  of,  after  his  death, 
Gustav's  interest  in  it  gave  him  an  income  of  only 
$7  or  $8  a  year.  Gustav  had  learned  the  black- 
smith's trade,  and  learned  it  well,  and  was  also  a 
good  woodworker,  so  that  the  income  from  the 
estate  should  have  meant  little  to  him.  Gustav, 
however,  was  indolent,  easy-going  and  much  given 
to  sociability,  though  he  was  not  then  dissipated. 
He  appeared  to  his  neighbors  to  be  just  a  good 
fellow  who  lacked  ambition  and  energy.  He  had 
accomplished  nothing,  and  was  rather  looked  upon 
with  good-natured  disfavor  by  the  hard-working 
village  folk.  He  was  so  kind,  so  generous,  so  sun- 
ny-natured  that  none  could  be  very  harsh  with  him. 
Like  many  another  who  has  not  got  on  in  the  world, 
Gustav  laid  his  failure  to  circumstances  rather  than 
to  himself.  He  was  persuaded  that  if  he  could  only 
get  to  America,  it  would  be  easy  to  begin  a  new 
life  —  away  from  the  old  ruts,  his  boon  companions 
and   familiar  surroundings.     He  was  utterly  with- 

39 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

out  funds,  but  clung  desperately  to  the  idea  of 
getting  to  America.  Among  those  who  were  mak- 
ing ready  to  depart  for  the  land  of  promise  were 
his  friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carl  A.  Johnson,  who 
thought  rather  well  of  Gustav  despite  his  short- 
comings. To  them  Gustav  went  with  the  proposi- 
tion to  exchange  his  birthright  for  a  ticket  to  Amer- 
ica. The  deal  was  made,  and  so  when  the  Johnsons 
sailed  westward  Gustav  Jenson  was  with  them. 
Carl  Johnson,  however,  never  got  a  penny  for  Jen- 
son's  birthright.  The  amount  was  small  to  a  man 
who  soon  became  accustomed  to  American  stand- 
ards of  value,  the  distance  was  great  and  the  means 
of  collecting  the  income  doubtful.  So,  it  turned 
out  that  he  had  really  made  Jenson  a  present  of 
the  $50  or  $60  he  paid  for  his  transportation  to 
America.  Gustav's  easy-going  habits  did  not  alter 
on  shipboard,  and  it  is  related  by  members  of  the 
Johnson  family  that  he  spent  most  of  his  time  at 
sea  in  his  bunk.  The  immigrants  traveled  from  the 
interior  of  Sweden  to  the  port  of  Gothenburg,  via 
inland  waterways,  thence  by  vessel  to  Hull,  Eng- 
land, and  thence  by  sailing  ship  to  Boston,  the  last 
part  of  the  journey  taking  over  six  weeks. 

Chicago  was  the  destination  of  the  immigrants, 
and  there  Gustav  tarried  a  year,   finding  employ- 

40 


THE  IMMIGRANTS 

ment  at  his  trade,  and  saving  a  little  money.  In 
the  meantime  the  immigrants  heard  much  of  the 
rich  valley  of  the  Minnesota,  which  had  only  re- 
cently been  ceded  by  the  Indians,  where  land  could 
be  taken  by  preemption.  So  in  the  spring  of  1855 
Gustav  and  Hans  J.  Johnson,  a  brother  of  Carl,  and 
Hans'  wife  set  out  for  Traverse  des  Sioux,  which 
was  then  the  very  outpost  of  white  settlement. 
They  traveled  by  rail  from  Chicago  to  Galena,  111., 
and  there  took  a  steamboat  for  St.  Paul.  At  St. 
Paul  they  reckoned  up  and  found  that  it  would  take 
every  cent  they  had  to  buy  tickets  on  the  steamboat 
from  St.  Paul  to  St.  Peter.  Nothing  daunted,  they 
decided  to  transport  themselves.  Investing  a  few 
dollars  in  lumber,  they  built  a  rowboat,  bought  a 
barrel  of  flour  and  some  salt  pork,  loaded  these  and 
their  baggage  into  the  boat  and  pushed  out  for  St. 
Peter.  They  were  going  into  a  new  country,  Trav- 
erse des  Sioux  was  little  more  than  an  Indian  trad- 
ing post  and  they  did  not  know  whether  they  could 
get  work  there  or  not.  But  they  had  provisions 
enough  to  last  them  for  the  round  trip,  so  that  they 
felt  sure  of  being  able  to  get  back  to  St.  Paul.  Be- 
sides they  had  $5  in  money  between  them,  were  all 
young  and  hopeful  and  they  were  delighted  with  the 
adventure.     The   river  was   high   and  the  current 

41 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

was  swift;  it  took  ten  clays  of  hard  work  to  make 
the  150  miles  to  Traverse  des  Sioux,  but  with  joke 
and  song  and  whistling  the  time  passed  quickly. 

Arrived  at  Traverse  des  Sioux  the  next  thing  to 
do  was  to  get  some  land.     They  found  preemption 
land  not  far  away,  in  what  is  now  Traverse  town- 
ship of  Nicollet  County.     They  might  have  taken 
160  acres  each,  but  as  they  might  be  called  on  at 
any  time  to  pay  $1.25  an  acre  they  feared  that  the 
demand  would  find  them  without  enough  purchase 
money  if  they  should  file  on  a  quarter  section,  so, 
in  the  branch  land  office  at  St.  Peter,  they  applied 
for  eighty  acres  each,  and  forthwith  set  about  im- 
proving  it.     Gustav's   eighty   was   all   prairie   but 
there  was  some  timber  on  Carl's  land,  and  from 
this  wood  they  took  the  logs  for  their  cabins.     Gus- 
tav  seemed  to  have  a  new  energy,  and  built  a  more 
pretentious  house  than  that   Hans   undertook.     It 
measured    14  X  16   and   boasted   a   gable   roof   of 
poplar    poles    thatched    with    long    slough    grass. 
There  was  no  floor  but  the  earth.     The  door  was 
on  the  side  near  one  end,  and  it  opened  into  a  little 
hall,   which  in  turn  opened  into  the  main  room. 
The  same  transverse  partition  that  made  one  side 
of  the  hall  also  cut  off  a  small  pantry  or  store- 
room from  the  rest  of  the  house.     The  cabin  was 
torn  down  about  1864,  and  there  is  now  no  trace 

42 


THE  IMMIGRANTS 

of  it  beyond  an  opinion  that  some  of  the  logs  were 
used  in  a  granary  still  standing  near  by.  Gustav 
was  not  much  of  a  farmer,  but  he  put  in  some  crops 
and  then  built  a  small  shop  in  which  he  carried  on 
his  trade.  When  the  time  came  Hans  and  Gustav 
walked  overland  to  Winona,  one  hundred  and  forty 
miles,  to  pay  up  and  get  title  at  the  government  land 
office.  Having  made  this  transaction,  Gustav  Jen- 
son,  who  now  began  to  call  himself  Johnson  (con- 
sidering that  the  American  equivalent  of  Jenson), 
was  the  owner  of  eighty  acres  of  land  in  his  own 
right,  a  comfortable  cabin  and  was  conducting  a  lit- 
tle smithy.  It  began  to  look  as  if  the  migration  had 
been  good  for  him.  He  needed  only  a  wife  to 
complete  his  establishment.  Through  many  misfor- 
tunes and  tribulations  the  one  who  was  to  be  his 
wife,  came  at  last  to  Traverse  des  Sioux. 

Caroline  Christine  Hadden,  daughter  of  Lothrop 
and  Breta  Hadden,  was  born  in  Lindkoping,  Oster- 
gotland,  Sweden,  March  5,  1838.  The  father,  a 
master  cabinet  maker,  also  owned  a  farm  adjoining 
the  village,  and  was  able  to  provide  well  for  his 
family.  The  local  nobility  greatly  esteemed  Loth- 
rop Hadden's  skill,  and  for  weeks  at  a  time  he  was 
away  from  home,  employed  at  their  castles.  Thus 
he  came,  in  time,  to  have  more  than  a  local  reputa- 
tion as  a  skilled  artisan.     These  business  sojourns 

43 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

in  the  homes  of  nobility  doubtless  gave  him  glimpses 
of  a  world  far  larger  than  that  of  the  village. 
Lothrop  was  a  born  mechanic,  and  his  interests  and 
his  industry  were  by  no  means  confined  to  his  own 
trade  or  to  his  farm.  He  planned  and  built  the  first 
threshing  machine  ever  used  in  that  part  of  Sweden. 
In  his  odd  moments  he  built  an  elaborate  clock  and 
constructed  a  loom.  He  fashioned  a  pair  of  beau- 
tiful candelabra,  which  he  presented  to  the  parish 
church.  One  of  his  diversions  was  to  take  a  new 
piece  of  cloth,  study  out  the  design  and  fabric  and 
then  imitate  it  on  his  own  loom.  He  was  a  great 
reader,  and  always  had  a  book  with  him  for  reading 
in  spare  moments.  The  family  numbered  five  chil- 
dren, besides  Caroline  —  an  elder  brother,  three 
younger  brothers  and  a  little  sister.  Lothrop  Had- 
den  was  a  devoted  father.  His  own  inclinations, 
work,  associations  and  reading  had  given  him  a 
taste  for  a  larger  life  than  he  could  hope  to  at- 
tain in  Sweden.  He  was  possessed  of  a  longing  to 
give  his  children  a  better  start  and  opportunity  in 
the  world  than  he  had  himself.  Therefore  the  mi- 
gration fever  found  him  an  easy  victim.  In  the 
spring  of  1853  he  sold  his  farm  and  his  shop  and, 
keeping  the  tools  of  his  trade,  took  passage  in  May 
for  America  with  his  family  and  a  sister.  The  im- 
migrants  were   ocean-borne   by   sailing  vessel   and 

44 


THE  IMMIGRANTS 

eleven  weeks  and  five  days  passed  before  they  came 
to  port  at  Boston. 

Soon  after  the  Haddens  reached  Boston  the  fa- 
ther was  searched  out  by  a  gentleman  who  inquired 
whether  he  was  the  man  who  had  made  a  chiffonier 
for  a  certain  Swedish  nobleman,  and  on  learning 
that  Hadden  was  the  man,  gave  him  a  commission 
to  build  a  similar  one  for  him.  From  Boston  the 
Hadden  family  traveled  westward  to  Chicago. 
While  on  Lake  Erie  their  vessel  caught  fire  and  they 
were  barely  saved  by  another  boat.  Arriving  at 
Chicago  at  last,  Lothrop  Hadden  soon  fell  a  victim 
to  his  Old  World  innocence.  He  consulted  a  Swed- 
ish interpreter  in  the  government  employ  in  regard 
to  exchanging  his  Swedish  money  for  American. 
The  interpreter  said  that  the  exchange  could  not  be 
made  in  Chicago,  but  that  the  money  would  have  to 
be  returned  to  Sweden  for  that  purpose.  So,  the 
guileless  immigrant  turned  all  his  funds  over  to  the 
interpreter  to  take  back  to  Sweden  with  him,  he 
saying  that  he  was  to  sail  for  the  old  country  on 
the  next  ship.  Needless  to  say  Hadden  never  saw 
the  money  —  the  entire  proceeds  of  his  former  prop- 
erty. The  need  of  remunerative  employment  was 
urgent  and  Hadden  ordered  lumber  to  fill  the  order 
he  had  received  in  Boston.  It  was  the  year  of  the 
cholera.     The   dread   disease    entered    the    family. 

45 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

Lothrop  Hadden  and  his  good  wife  succumbed,  and 
the  eldest  son  and  the  aunt  also  obeyed  the  call  of 
death.  Within  three  weeks  from  the  time  that  the 
wandering  family  arrived  in  Chicago,  Caroline 
Christine  found  herself  bereft  of  father  and  mother, 
ignorant  of  the  language,  inexperienced  and  with 
three  brothers  and  a  baby  sister  to  care  for.  Her 
first  thought  was  that  she  might  sell  her  father's 
tools,  but  when  she  went  to  the  Swedish  pastor's 
house,  whither  her  father  had  sent  them,  she  found 
that  they  had  been  left  under  the  eaves  of  the 
church  and  were  ruined  by  moisture  and  rust. 
Charity,  then,  was  the  only  resort.  The  three  boys, 
Carl  John,  Andrew  Alfred  and  Lars  Rheinhold,  and 
the  baby  were  placed  in  an  orphans'  home,  where 
Caroline  was  given  employment.  A  little  later  the 
young  girl  was  taken  as  domestic  servant  into  the 
home  of  a  minister,  but  she  could  not  stand  the 
separation  from  the  other  children,  and  throwing 
her  clothes  out  of  the  window  one  night,  stole  away 
and  returned  to  the  orphans'  home,  and  begged 
Mrs.  Fleming,  the  matron,  to  let  her  stay  there  with 
the  little  ones.  Mustering  her  courage  again,  she 
went  forth  to  employment  in  a  family  of  the  name 
of  Beecher,  at  Michigan  City,  Indiana.  She  stayed 
there  through  the  winter  of  1852—3,  but  was  called 
back  to  Chicago  by  news  of  the  sickness  of  the  lit- 

46 


i:\i;i.v    ["h'TPKKs    of   joiinsun    with    mis    kkikm-s 

(Prom  tintypes) 


THE  IMMIGRANTS 

tie  sister.  The  heartbroken  Caroline  arrived  too 
late  —  the  baby  had  died.  She  remained  at  the 
orphanage  through  the  summer  and  fall,  and  during 
that  time  the  eldest  brother  was  apprenticed  to  a 
tinsmith  in  Chicago  and  the  two  other  boys  were 
adopted  by  families  living  in  the  country  near  Au- 
rora, Illinois.  Caroline  remained  in  Chicago  during 
the  winter  and  once  visited  her  brothers  in  the  coun- 
try. In  the  spring  an  uncle  residing  in  St.  Paul, 
invited  her  to  join  him,  and  saying  good-bye  to  the 
brothers  she  took  the  long  journey  by  rail  and  boat  to 
St.  Paul.  This  proved  to  be  her  last  farewell  to  the 
brothers;  for  on  the  way  to  St.  Paul,  Caroline  lost 
their  addresses  and  never  saw  or  heard  of  them 
again,  though  in  later  years  many  efforts  were  made 
to  locate  them.  The  immigrant  girl  was  now  alone 
and  helpless;  for  her  uncle  had  moved  away  from 
St.  Paul  before  she  arrived.  After  a  stay  of  a 
year  in  St.  Paul,  she  proceeded  by  steamer  on  the 
Minnesota  River  to  Traverse  des  Sioux,  intending  to 
stay  there  only  a  short  time,  but  the  river  froze 
up  unexpectedly,  and  she  was  compelled  to  remain 
until  spring.  When  she  returned  to  St.  Paul  she 
found  that  the  boarding-house  keeper  had  given 
away  the  trunk  which  contained  all  her  clothing 
and  family  keepsakes.  She  had  now  not  a  single 
token   of   the  past,   of  the   old   land   of   her   kin. 

47 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

While  at  Traverse  des  Sioux  she  met  Gustav  John- 
son, and  returning  to  St.  Peter  in  January,  1858, 
was  met  with  an  offer  of  marriage  from  the  young 
blacksmith.  They  were  married  February  28, 
1858. 

Hans  J.  Johnson  was  the  matchmaker.  He  told 
Gustav  that  being  now  past  thirty  years  of  age  and 
having  a  farm  and  a  home  and  being  well  started 
in  life,  he  should  take  a  wife.  By  this  time  a 
Swedish  Lutheran  Church  had  been  started  at 
Traverse  des  Sioux.  At  the  church  meetings  Hans 
noticed  a  comely,  bright-eyed  woman,  who  proved, 
upon  introduction,  to  be  Christine  Hadden. 
Previously  Christine  had  worked  in  the  family  of 
G.  A.  Brown,  a  storekeeper  at  Traverse  des  Sioux. 
Hans  told  Christine  that  she  ought  to  be  working 
for  herself,  and  that  the  best  way  to  do  that  would 
be  to  marry  Gustav  Johnson,  who  owned  a  farm, 
a  house,  and  was  withal  a  good  workman.  Chris- 
tine was  alone  in  the  world  and  sorrow-stricken, 
she  longed  for  a  home ;  and  so  the  suggestion  of 
Hans  Johnson  was  favorably  received.  In  the 
meantime  Carl  A.  Johnson  and  his  family  had 
come  from  Chicago  to  the  settlement,  and  they 
thought  marriage  would  be  good  for  Gustav.  The 
two  were  married  in  Gustav's  cabin  by  the  Rev. 
C.   Cedarstram,  of  the  Swedish  Lutheran  church. 

48 


THE  IMMIGRANTS 

Their  pre-nuptial  journey  was  the  six-mile  drive  to 
Gustav's  farm,  and  the  driver  was  Matthias  G. 
Evenson,  the  first  settler  on  the  site  of  St.  Peter, 
who  had  married  Sophia  Christine  Johnson,  daugh- 
ter of  Carl  Johnson,  both  of  whom  are  living.  Mrs. 
Evenson  recalls  with  clear  memory  the  old  home  in 
Sweden,  Gustav  Johnson  as  he  was  there  and  later 
in  America,  and  it  is  from  her,  her  husband  and 
her  brother,  C.  F.  Johnson,  that  most  of  what  is  here 
recorded  about  the  Jensen  or  Johnson  family  was 
learned. 

For  four  years  the  couple  prospered  and  were 
happy,  and  it  was  in  the  farm  cabin  built  by  Gus- 
tav, that  on  July  28,  1861,  the  second  son,  John 
Albert  Johnson,  was  born.  The  Indian  massacre  of 
1862  drove  the  Johnson  family  into  St.  Peter  for 
safety,  and  the  father,  on  the  plea  that  he  could  do 
better  there  than  in  the  country,  sold  the  farm, 
built  a  little  home  and  opened  a  shop.  Here,  too, 
the  family  prospered  for  a  while,  and  in  St.  Peter 
were  born  five  daughters  and  another  son.  But  the 
mother's  respite  from  misery  and  woe  was  to  be 
brief.  In  the  village  there  were  too  many  temp- 
tations for  the  father;  it  was  too  easy  to  let  things 
drift,  and  he  soon  started  on  a  downward  career 
that  ended  many  years  later  in  the  county  home. 

Gustav  Johnson,  poor,  disgraced  wretch  that  he 

49 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

was  in  later  years,  had  good  qualities,  and  there  is 
little  doubt  that  his  great  son  profited  somewhat 
from  his  paternal  heredity.  From  his  mother,  the 
hard-working,  long-suffering  woman  of  many  sor- 
rows, Johnson  inherited  an  unconquerable  firmness 
and  fixity  of  purpose  that  was  curiously  blended 
with  an  easy-going  good  nature  that  doubtless  came 
from  his  father.  John's  good-fellowship,  his 
lovable  social  qualities,  his  vivacity  and  enthusiastic 
nature  were  his  inheritance  from  the  wretched 
father,  an  inheritance  of  cheerfulness  that  was 
nevertheless  always  shadowed  by  a  lurking  sadness. 
There  has  been  a  tendency  to  make  the  father 
appear  worse  than  he  was,  because  his  failure 
brought  so  much  hardship  and  humiliation  to  the 
family.  There  was  nothing  evil  in  his  nature.  He 
was  a  dreamer  and  talker  rather  than  a  performer. 
While  not  well  educated,  he  could  read  and  write, 
and  loved  to  whistle  and  sing  and  discuss  politics 
and  religion.  There  was -doubtless  good  material 
in  the  man  who  could  do  what  he  had  done  from 
the  time  he  left  Sweden  until  some  years  after  mar- 
riage. But  the  responsibilities  of  family  life  were 
too  much  for  him.  He  could  not  get  ahead,  and 
as  the  years  went  by  he  became  discouraged,  lost 
his  grip  and  finally  became  a  tramp,  a  drunkard 
and  an  outcast.     Some  of  his   friends  think  that 

50 


THE  IMMIGRANTS 

he  was  mentally  deranged  when  he  finally  gave  up 
the  struggle  and  deserted  his  family,  and  they  pre- 
fer to  think  of  the  good-natured,  entertaining  talker 
and  jovial  singer  of  the  earlier  days. 


51 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   BOY'S    STRUGGLES 

AS  self-consciousness  dawned  upon  little  John 
Johnson,  he  found  himself  in  a  sad  home  at- 
mosphere. The  father  failed  as  a  provider,  and  as 
the  family  grew  his  lack  of  energy  became  more 
manifest.  He  took  care  of  an  occasional  job  in  his 
shop  and  did  it  well,  but  was  wholly  lacking  in 
enterprise,  and  the  habit  grew  on  him  of  taking  a 
cheerful  view  of  life  through  the  aid  of  drink. 
Some  of  his  friends  thought  Mrs.  Johnson  was  not 
a  good  economizer.  A  country  boy  bringing  a 
coulter  of  a  plow  to  Gustav  for  repair,  was  invited 
to  take  dinner  with  the  family.  "  There  was,"  he 
said,  "  a  big  slab  of  sponge  cake  in  the  middle  of 
the  table,  and  a  fine,  big,  juicy  beefsteak,  potatoes 
and  bread  and  butter.  I  don't  believe  I  had  ever 
eaten  beefsteak  before.  When  I  told  my  father 
about  it,  he  shook  his  head  and  said  that  Gustav 
would  yet  land  in  the  poorhouse."  Certain  it  is 
that  so  long  as  the  father  was  active  the  table 
was  well-provided,  and  there  was  often  a  friend  at 

52 


THE  BOY'S  STRUGGLES 

the  board.  But  this  period  of  comfort  gradually 
merged  into  one  of  want,  as  the  father  became 
more  and  more  incapable.  One  day  he  sold  the 
shop  for  $200,  put  the  money  into  his  pocket, 
walked  down  the  street,  with  a  pleasant  greeting 
to  Matt  Evenson  —  and  was  gone  for  a  year.  He 
returned  and  went  again;  returned  once  more,  a 
physical  wreck,  and  as  a  helping  factor  in  the 
family  life  had  to  be  ignored.  Eventually  he 
reached  the  lowest  depths  of  misery  and  helplessness, 
and  was  finally  -sent  to  the  county  farm  as  an  in- 
ebriate, where  he  died. 

The  father's  wretchedness  and  the  mother's  bur- 
den of  toil  and  care  for  the  family  weighed  down 
the  boy's  spirits  and  oppressed  his  thoughts.  Pov- 
erty was  there  with  all  its  blight.  The  mother,  with 
her  new  chapter  of  suffering,  was  not  yet  beyond 
the  sorrow  of  death's  shadow.  In  all  she  bore  eight 
children,  four  of  whom  passed  away  in  infancy  or 
childhood,  two  dying  when  the  poverty  of  the  family 
was  at  the  extremest.  The  daily  toil  that  kept  the 
wolf  from  the  door  was  of  the  hardest  kind  for 
the  mother  —  she  was  the  village  washerwoman. 
Her  best  efforts  brought  but  small  reward,  and  the 
living  was  of  the  scantiest.  The  children  were 
poorly  clad  and  scantily  nourished.  A  neighbor  re- 
lates that  she  was  often  invited  to  partake  of  a 

53 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

meal  with  the  Johnsons,  being  a  frequent  visitor 
at  the  home,  but  declined  whenever  possible,  because 
of  the  limited  amount  of  food.  One  dish  usually 
constituted  the  meal  —  sometimes  potatoes,  some- 
times bread  and  butter;  ofttimes  the  cow  the  family 
managed  to  keep  was  their  sole  defense  against 
hunger.  So  limited  was  the  food  of  the  family 
that  it  has  been  thought  by  some  of  the  neighbors 
that  the  health  of  the  future  governor  was  perma- 
nently impaired  by  lack  of  sufficient  nutritious  food 
during  his  early  years.  The  furniture  of  the  little 
home  was  meager  almost  beyond  description.  One 
pail  served  Mrs.  Johnson  as  a  milk  pail,  bread  pan, 
dish  pan,  and  water  pail.  She  baked  her  bread  on  a 
picked-up  piece  of  sheet  iron  or  an  old  kettle  cover. 
There  was  one  table  in  the  house  and  two  or  three 
wooden  benches.  There  was  no  such  thing  in  the 
house  as  a  bureau,  box  or  chest  and  only  one  bed- 
stead. It  was  difficult  to  get  fuel  enough  to  warm 
the  rooms  in  winter,  and  the  children  as  well  as  the 
mother  suffered  from  cold.  For  years  Mrs.  John- 
son had  only  one  dress,  which  was  her  single 
garment.  It  was  a  sort  of  wrapper,  lined  with 
flour  sacking.  Old-timers  in  St.  Peter,  like  the 
Evensons,  recall  the  boy  John,  hugging  the  stove 
in  the  winter  clad  only  in  a  linen  blouse, 
well    worn   before    winter    came.     He    was    four- 

54 


THE  BOY'S  STRUGGLES 

teen  years  old  before  he  knew  the  comfort  of 
an  overcoat  —  and  that  in  a  climate  where  the 
mercury  often  goes  well  below  zero  in  the  winter. 
But  while  the  Johnson  family  lived  in  abjectest 
poverty,  it  was  not  squalid  poverty.  The  mother 
kept  the  house  spotlessly  clean,  and  what  little  there 
was  in  it  showed  to  the  best  advantage. 

Neither  was  poverty  faced  by  the  mother  and 
children  in  a  morose  or  sullen  spirit.  They  made 
the  most  of  what  they  had.  Mrs.  Johnson  enjoyed 
company,  and  being  deprived  of  a  husband's  pres- 
ence and  cooperation,  liked  to  have  visitors.  The 
children  managed  to  go  to  school,  and  the  mother 
was  willing  to  suffer  any  hardship  to  keep  them 
there.  John  delivered  the  washing  for  his  mother 
and  collected  it  mornings  and  evenings,  went  to 
school  with  the  other  boys,  milked  the  cow,  and  did 
the  odd  jobs  that  came  along;  collected  scrap  iron 
and  copper  for  a  few  cents  a  pound,  and  found 
time  to  play  ball  and  marbles  in  the  summer,  and 
coast  and  skate  in  winter. 

One  of  the  jobs  that  came  to  him  and  a  com- 
panion was  a  commission  to  hoe  the  weeds  out  of 
the  corn  field  of  Gibb  Patch,  an  old  citizen  and 
veteran  of  the  Civil  War.  The  boys  were  to  re- 
ceive twenty  cents  a  row.  They  worked  up  and 
down  the  rows  most  diligently,  cheering  themselves 

55 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

for  their  aching  backs  and  blistered  hands  with  the 
addition  of  twenty  cents  to  their  joint  assets  at  the 
end  of  each  row.  When  the  work  was  done  —  and 
it  was  well  done  —  the  boys  hastened  to  search  for 
Gibb  Patch  to  collect  their  money.  Gibb  could  not 
be  found  at  first,  and  several  weeks  passed  before 
he  went  out  to  inspect  the  field.  Of  course,  the 
weeds  had  grown  up  again  by  this  time;  Gibb  in- 
sisted that  the  work  had  been  done  in  a  slovenly 
manner  and  announced  to  the  disappointed  boys  that 
ten  cents  a  row  was  all  he  would  pay.  The  boys 
could  do  no  better,  and  took  their  pay  at  that  rate, 
but  John  was  boiling  over  with  rage.  He  con- 
sidered that  he  had  been  outraged.  "  Just  as  soon 
as  I  am  big  enough,"  he  threatened  Gibb,  "  I  will 
give  you  a  good  licking  for  this."  It  was  about  the 
only  grudge  that  John  harbored  in  his  life.  One 
day,  years  later,  he  realized  that  he  was  big  enough 
to  "  lick  "  Gibb.  "  But  then,"  he  said,  "  it  would 
have  been  such  an  easy  job,  that  I  did  n't  have  the 
heart  to  do  it." 

John's  school  days  and  boyhood  were  soon  over, 
but  for  recompense  it  was  given  him  to  be  a  boy 
all  his  life.  Between  the  ages  of  six  and  thirteen, 
he  had  attended  school  in  four  different  buildings, 
and  had  made  the  most  of  his  opportunities.  The 
first  years  of  school  were  passed  in  a  little  frame 

56 


THE  BOY'S  STRUGGLES 

public  school  building,  which,  remodeled,  still 
stands,  and  is  used  as  a  dwelling.  This  building 
was  at  first  the  edifice  of  the  German  Methodists, 
and  was  built  in  1862  of  lumber  hauled  overland 
from  St.  Paul  by  ox-team  driven  by  Henry  Moll, 
the  present  judge  of  probate  of  Nicollet  County, 
who  was  then  only  thirteen  years  old.  After 
the  church  outgrew  this  primitive  structure,  the 
town  school  board  found  it  very  convenient  to 
accommodate  the  overflow  from  the  regular  school- 
house.  From  this  little  schoolhouse  the  boy  was 
transferred  to  the  Livermore  Episcopalian  school, 
which  was  then  housed  in  the  building  that  had 
formerly  been  used  for  worship  by  the  First  Episco- 
pal Mission  Church  of  the  Holy  Redeemer.  It  is 
now  used  as  a  blacksmith  shop.  Returning  to  the 
public  schools,  the  future  governor  was  taken  care 
of  in  the  main  school  building  of  that  time,  which, 
moved  a  mile  from  its  old  location,  now  does 
duty  as  a  hide  and  wool  warehouse.  All  of  these 
school  buildings  were  moved  from  their  original  lo- 
cations, and  have  finally  come  to  stand  near  each 
other. 

The  fourth  and  last  schoolhouse,  built  of  brick, 
and  formerly  known  as  the  high  school,  is  still  in 
use,  and  the  Governor's  sister,  Hattie,  is  a  teacher 
there.     The  last  year  of  schooling,  spent  here,  was 

57 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

an  important  year  in  the  boy's  life,  for  it  brought 
him  under  the  influence  of  Elias  S.  Pettijohn,  a 
teacher,  who  understood  and  liked  the  boy,  en- 
couraged him  to  study,  set  him  a  good  example 
in  and  out  of  school  of  what  a  man  should  be,  and 
aroused  in  the  boy  a  thirst  for  knowledge.  To  the 
last  there  was  an  affectionate  regard  between  the 
pupil  and  his  schoolmaster,  who  is  now  deputy  state 
treasurer. 

"  John  was  one  of  my  pupils  in  the  old  brick 
school  building  at  St.  Peter,"  says  Mr.  Pettijohn, 
"  for  one  school  year  and,  I  think,  part  of  a  second 
year.  I  was  in  charge  of  this  school  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  school  year  in  1873  till  the  December 
holidays  in  1876.  As  I  now  recall  the  impressions 
of  John  as  a  student,  the  first  and  strongest  is  as 
to  his  personality.  He  was  a  natural  gentleman. 
I  mean  that  he  had  an  instinctive  tendency  to  be 
kindly  to  and  thoughtful  of  others.  He  was  one 
of  the  brightest-minded  boys  I  have  ever  known. 
Sincerity,  honesty,  ability  and  industry  were  founda- 
tion stones  in  the  temple  of  his  mental  and  moral 
life.  In  his  classes  and  on  the  playgrounds  he  was 
always  wide  awake,  and  ready  to  do  the  very  best 
that  was  in  him.  He  never  mixed  his  class  work 
with  playground  sports,  nor  carried  to  the  play- 
grounds any  sentiment  other  than  a  fine  strong  love 

58 


THE  BOY'S  STRUGGLES 

of  athletic  sport.  There  never  was  any  sham  in 
his  entire  make-up.  He  was  always  and  under  all 
circumstances  perfectly  natural  —  gentlemanly,  un- 
assuming. His  conduct  and  deportment  in  the 
schoolroom,  on  the  playgrounds,  and  at  all  other 
places  was  always  gentlemanly  —  fitting  perfectly  to 
the  time  and  place. 

"  He  was  quite  diffident  as  to  his  ability  as  a 
student,  an  incident  of  which  I  now  recall.  We 
had  a  very  lively,  wide  awake  school,  and  in  addition 
to  the  lessons  assigned  in  the  text-books  I  always 
placed  or  had  copied  on  the  blackboard  some  special 
work  calling  for  original  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
student,  and  an  application  by  the  student  of  the 
principles  embodied  in  the  text  of  the  lesson.  I 
presume  that  modern  methods  of  teaching  make 
my  work  appear  crude;  however,  that  was  the  best 
way  I  knew  of  and  so  used  it.  The  incident  men- 
tioned happened  when  I  handed  John  the  written 
copy  and  asked  him  to  go  to  the  blackboard  and 
copy  it.  He  demurred,  said  he  was  afraid  that  he 
could  not  do  it  as  well  as  it  should  be  done ;  he 
was  diffident  and  bashful,  and,  as  was  perfectly 
natural,  lacked  confidence  in  himself,  facing  an  un- 
tried experiment.  I  encouraged  him  to  try  —  tell- 
ing him  that  the  mere  act  of  trying  under  the 
circumstances  and  doing  his  best  would  be  to  him  a 

59 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

most  useful  lesson.  He  went  to  the  blackboard 
willingly  and  copied  the  work  in  excellent  style  and 
manner.  Each  student  in  the  class  then  copied  in 
his  blotter  the  lesson  from  the  blackboard.  He 
spoke  of  this  incident  over  and  over  after  he  became 
a  noted  man,  and  always  with  the  statement  that 
no  other  event  in  his  school  life  did  so  much  to 
develop  confidence  in  himself  as  this.  Ever  after- 
ward he  was  always  ready  and  willing  to  do  any 
part,  or  all,  of  the  blackboard  work.  He  developed 
into  a  splendid  blackboard  writer,  and  also  a  fine 
rapid  writer  with  pen  and  pencil." 

When  Gustav  Johnson  gave  up  the  fight  and 
walked  out  of  the  village  without  a  word  of  fare- 
well, he  brought  John's  formal  education  to  an  end. 
The  mother  was  the  sole  support  of  the  family,  and 
John,  though  all  but  heartbroken  at  leaving  school, 
made  up  his  mind  that  the  time  had  come  for  him 
to  go  to  work.  Friends  and  neighbors,  like  the 
Johnsons  and  Evensons,  helped  the  family  out  with 
loads  of  wood  and  hay  and  contributions  of  pro- 
visions of  one  sort  and  another,  and  the  mother 
fought  against  John  leaving  school,  for  she  feared 
that  if  he  left  it  would  be  never  to  return  —  and  so 
it  was.  The  boy  made  up  his  mind  that  there  was 
no  choice  for  him.  And,  as  always,  once  he  had 
made  up  his  mind,  good-natured  and  accommodating 

60 


THE  BOY'S  STRUGGLES 

as  he  ever  was,  nothing  could  turn  him  from  his 
purpose.  Matthias  Evenson,  who  had  always  taken 
a  kindly  interest  in  the  family,  lending  the  father 
money  now  and  then  to  carry  on  his  business,  and 
who  with  his  good  wife  came  to  their  assistance  in 
this  crisis,  agreed  with  John.  He  deplored  the 
necessity  of  taking  the  boy  out  of  school,  but 
advised  him  to  keep  his  books  and  study  by  him- 
self. John  said  he  would,  and  he  did.  Mr.  Even- 
son  called  on  Charles  J.  Colin,  who  kept  a  general 
store,  and  asked  him  whether  he  could  not  find  a 
place  for  John  in  his  store.  Mr.  Colin,  who  is  still 
living  on  a  farm  some  twelve  miles  from  St.  Peter, 
had  already  taken  notice  of  John.  Three  years  be- 
fore he  had  begun  to  observe  a  slim,  light-haired, 
blue-eyed,  bright-looking  youngster  on  the  streets, 
clad  in  a  pair  of  blue  overalls,  a  hickory  shirt,  and 
a  battered  straw  hat.  Later  he  learned  that  the 
boy  was  "  Johnny  "  Johnson,  and  found  that  as  he 
came  and  went,  he  was  often  collecting  or  delivering 
washing  for  his  mother,  and  that  he  and  his  elder 
brother,  Ed,  even  helped  the  mother  with  the  wash- 
ing and  ironing.  There  was  something  trim,  quick 
and  keen  about  the  barefoot  boy  that  made  a  lasting 
impression  on  Mr.  Colin.  So  he  was  quite  ready 
to  act  on  Mr.  Evenson's  application.  Thus  it  came 
about  that,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  John  Johnson  went 

61 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

to  work  as  all-around  help  in  Colin's  store  at  a 
salary  of  $10  a  month.  His  duties  were  to  sweep 
out  the  store,  deliver  groceries  and  take  care  of  the 
old  mare  with  which  John  made  the  round  of  Colin's 
customers.  John  made  good  from  the  start,  as  he 
always  did,  seemingly  without  any  great  effort. 
Whatever  he  did  seemed  to  him  to  be  a  good  thing 
to  do.  The  work  in  hand  was  always  the  great 
thing  with  Johnson,  boy  or  man.  Few  men  were 
as  little  concerned  about  the  future  as  he;  his  chief 
concern  was  always  the  present  task. 

"  After  John  had  been  with  me  a  week,"  said 
Mr.  Colin,  "  I  knew  I  had  drawn  a  prize.  He 
proved  to  be  accommodating,  gentlemanly,  and  was 
never  ruffled.  He  had  natural  ability  as  a  sales- 
man, and  made  friends  very  fast.  In  less  than  two 
weeks  he  knew  the  stock  thoroughly,  had  developed 
into  a  first-class  clerk  and  was  good  at  anything 
he  undertook.  I  would  just  as  soon  have  him  be- 
hind the  counter  as  myself.  I  never  hesitated  about 
leaving  him  in  charge  of  the  store,  and  I  always 
knew  where  to  find  him.  He  was  always  ready  for 
work  and  never  shirked.  My  wife  and  I  thought 
as  much  of  him  as  we  did  of  our  own  children. 
When  he  was  at  our  house  Johnny  would  insist  on 
helping  my  wife  if  she  appeared  to  need  any  help. 

62 


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THE  BOY'S  STRUGGLES 

"  It  was  his  custom  to  take  his  wages  home  to 
his  mother  every  Saturday  night  during  the  two 
years  he  was  with  me.  I  noticed  that  he  always 
spoke  lovingly  of  her  and  the  children,  and  he  never 
complained  of  his  father. 

"  Twice  while  I  was  in  the  grocery  business  the 
grasshoppers  swooped  down  on  the  farms  around 
St.  Peter  and  destroyed  the  crops.  After  the 
second  visitation  I  went  out  of  business,  but  before 
I  closed  the  store  Matt  Evenson  and  I  found  a  place 
for  John  in  Henry  Jones'  drug  store,  where  at  first 
he  was  paid  the  same  salary  I  had  given  him.  We 
met  occasionally,  only  at  long  intervals  after  I  left 
St.  Peter,  but  our  friendship  never  lessened.  Once 
after  he  became  governor,  I  was  his  guest  for  a 
part  of  a  day  in  St.  Paul  —  I  tried  twice  that  day  to 
give  him  his  title  in  addressing  him,  but  he  would  n't 
have  it.  '  Call  me  John  or  Johnny,'  he  said,  same 
as  you  used  to.' 

"  While  he  was  still  my  clerk  he  spent  most  of 
his  leisure  in  reading,  though  he  was  full  of  fun 
and  frolic,  and  dearly  loved  the  games  of  boyhood. 
He  certainly  was  an  omnivorous  reader.  He 
always  slept  in  the  store,  and  I  have  found  him 
many  times  late  at  night  sitting  alongside  his  cot, 
reading  by  the  light  of  a  kerosene  lamp,  entirely 

63 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

absorbed  and  completely  oblivious  of  his  surround- 
ings. I  often  had  to  remind  him  that  it  was  time 
to  go  to  bed. 

"  Even  when  he  was  only  thirteen  years  old  he 
was  a  good  speaker.  Some  say  that  he  developed 
his  faculty  for  speaking  in  the  Knights  of  Pythias 
Lodge,  which  he  joined  later,  but  it  is  certain  that 
he  used  to  address  the  boys  who  would  gather  in 
the  store  when  business  was  dull.  If  there  were 
four  or  five  of  them  there,  and  there  was  nothing 
else  to  do,  he  would  sometimes  mount  a  barrel  and 
gravely  discuss  the  political  issues  of  the  day." 

After  a  time  spent  in  the  Jones'  store,  John  en- 
tered the  employ  of  Stark  Brothers  &  Davis,  who 
conducted  a  general  store.  It  was  winter  and  one 
of  the  firm  insisted  upon  providing  him  with  an  over- 
coat, the  first  he  had  ever  had.  A  boy  who  turned 
all  of  his  salary  over  to  his  mother  could  hardly 
afford  the  luxury  of  an  overcoat,  even  in  a  Min- 
nesota winter. 

The  first  great  triumph  of  the  boy's  life  was  at- 
tained when  his  salary  was  made  large  enough  to 
support  the  family.  With  the  money  in  his  hands 
he  hastened  home  to  tell  his  mother  that  her  days  of 
public  washing  were  over.  "  I  have  never  been 
prouder  of  John,"  said  his  mother  years  after,  when 
he  was  a  candidate  for  governor,  "  than  I  was  the 

64 


THE  BOY'S  STRUGGLES 

evening  when  he  came  home  and  told  me  that  his 
salary  had  been  raised,  and  that  he  would  no  longer 
permit  me  to  take  in  washing." 

In  the  gubernatorial  campaign  of  1908,  while  the 
Governor  was  making  a  sort  of  triumphal  progress 
throughout  the  state,  hailed  everywhere  as  the 
greatest  of  Minnesota's  governors,  and  looked  upon 
by  his  people  as  a  coming  president  of  the  United 
States,  one  of  his  party  asked  him  what  was  the 
happiest  moment  of  his  life  —  was  it  when  he  was 
first  elected  governor,  or  was  it  when  men  began  to 
name  him  for  the  presidency  ? 

"  No,"  said  the  Governor,  "  the  keenest  satisfac- 
tion I  have  known  in  life  was  that  evening  when  with 
my  raised  salary  I  went  home,  and  my  heart  bound- 
ing with  joy,  laid  it  in  mother's  lap,  and  told  her 
that  she  would  no  longer  have  to  take  in  washing." 

Some  men  might  have  said  that  for  effect.  John 
A.  Johnson  said  it  because  it  was  true.  Between 
mother  and  son  there  was  always  the  fullest  con- 
fidence —  except  that  the  boy  —  as  he  afterwards 
confessed  —  sometimes  "  went  swimming  "  without 
her  consent  or  knowledge. 

A  few  months  spent  as  a  drug  clerk  in  Decorah, 
Iowa,  and  a  few  months  more,  in  1886—7,  as  a 
railway  construction  supply  clerk  in  the  employ  of 
C.  G.  Larson  &  Co.,  railway  contractors,  were  the 

65" 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

only  absences  of  any  length  from  St.  Peter  in  the 
whole  of  Governor  Johnson's  life  up  to  the  time  of 
his  first  election  as  state  senator.  He  was  with 
Larson  &  Co.  from  March,  1886,  until  February  1, 
1887,  but  during  only  part  of  that  time  was  he 
employed  at  Greeley,  Iowa.  In  the  last  few  months 
of  that  employment  he  was  stationed  at  Mankato, 
which  was  so  near  St.  Peter  that  frequent  visits 
home  were  possible.  Returning  to  the  drug  store's 
employ  in  the  early  eighties  he  became  a  registered 
pharmacist.  The  confinement  of  the  store  impaired 
his  health  and  caused  the  change  of  occupation. 

John  Peterson,  a  member  of  this  contracting 
firm,  and  now  collector  of  customs  for  the  port 
of  St.  Paul,  who  had  known  Johnson  from  his 
early  boyhood,  engaged  him  for  the  railway  work 
at  a  salary  of  $75  a  month.  The  young  man's 
duties  were  to  handle  all  the  supplies  and  tools 
needed  by  the  subcontractors  from  the  company 
store,  the  work  extending  ten  or  fifteen  miles  each 
way  from  Greeley,  on  the  then  building  Chicago 
Great  Western  Railway.  Mr.  Peterson  says  that 
he  was  one  of  the  most  trustworthy  and  reliable 
young  men  he  had  ever  known.  "  He  handled  the 
business  to  our  entire  satisfaction,  was  correct  and 
careful,  and  in  good  humor  all  the  time;  helping 
materially  by  his  cheerfulness  and  promptness  to 

66 


THE  BOY'S  STRUGGLES 

further  our  work.  Later,  on  the  construction  of 
the  Cannon  Valley  railroad,  Johnson  performed 
other  services  for  us  with  headquarters  at  Mankato. 
His  duties  were  to  look  after  the  requirements  of 
the  laborers  and  keep  track  of  them,  the  tools  and 
machinery,  and  the  teams.  It  was  in  that  work  that 
we  taught  him  bookkeeping.  Here,  as  at  Greeley, 
his  service  to  us  was  of  the  highest  order." 

These  mere  dates  and  places  of  employment,  how- 
ever, give  little  idea  of  the  life  the  boy  led  in  the 
years  of  adolescence  and  youth.  At  home,  the  days 
of  poverty  and  want  were  over,  but  there  was  still 
a  full  measure  of  care  and  grief.  Two  sisters, 
twins,  were  born  in  1875,  and  one  of  them  lived 
only  three  years.  Another  sister,  born  in  1873,  died 
in  1887.  The  father,  after  a  final  effort  to  redeem 
himself,  sank  into  hopeless  inebriety,  and  as  an  in- 
ebriate was  sent  to  the  county  home,  in  order  to 
give  the  mother  and  children  a  better  chance  in  their 
hard  struggle.  The  homestead  was  sold  for  taxes, 
while  John  was  away  from  St.  Peter,  and  he  sent 
home  the  money,  $125,  to  bid  it  in.  By  his  efforts 
the  younger  children  were  kept  at  school.  By  the 
time  his  salary  had  reached  $75  a  month,  he  man- 
aged to  retain  a  little  of  it  for  himself,  but  his 
sacrifice  for  the  family  forced  him  to  a  minimum 
allowance  for  himself.     On  one  occasion  a  young 

67 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

woman  with  whom  John  was  "  keeping  company  " 
found  fault  with  his  shabby  coat,  and  the  young 
fellow  had  to  confess  that  he  could  not  afford  a 
new  one  —  and  the  confession  cost  him  his  "  com- 
pany." He  did  not  flinch  even  from  showing  his 
old  coat  in  public  when  he  sang  Sundays  in  the 
choir  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  He  admitted  the 
need  of  a  new  coat,  but  declared  that  he  would  not 
have  one  until  he  could  pay  for  it.  Before  John 
went  to  work  the  family  received  considerable  help 
from  kind  friends  and  neighbors,  but  from  the  mo- 
ment he  began  to  draw  pay,  nothing  went  to  the 
Johnson  household  that  was  not  paid  for.  The 
struggle  was  still  hard,  the  good  friends  knew  it, 
and  offered  help,  but  always  Mrs.  Johnson  would 
reply  that  whatever  the  family  got  John  would  pay 
for. 

Loyalty  was  one  of  Johnson's  strongest  charac- 
teristics. He  never  forgot  a  friend,  but  on  the 
other  hand,  never  tried  to  remember  an  enemy. 
Throughout  these  early  years,  his  sense  of  the  de- 
mands of  loyalty  made  the  family  the  great  con- 
sideration. The  boy  did  not  have  any  vaulting 
ambition.  The  duty  of  the  hour  and  the  day  and 
of  the  years  was  to  stand  by  the  family,  and  stand 
by  them  he  did.     Each  new  trouble  and  added  ex- 

68 


THE  BOY'S  STRUGGLES 

pense  found  him  in  the  breach,  consoling  the  mother, 
cheering  up  the  children,  paying  the  bills. 

"  On  Christmas  eve,"  says  his  sister  Hattie, 
"  John  would  be  Santa  Claus  for  us  all.  He  would 
come  home  in  the  evening  loaded  down  with  all 
sorts  of  mysterious  bundles.  Something,  first,  to 
cheer  mother's  heart.  Then  gifts  for  all  the  little 
ones.  Among  them  there  was  sure  to  be  a  good 
book  for  each  of  the  children.  And  John  was  just 
as  happy  in  the  giving  as  we  were  in  the  receiving. 
He  certainly  taught  us  all  the  lesson  that  it  is  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.  John  was  more  than 
a  brother  to  us  —  he  was  a  father  to  us  all." 

When  John  was  working  for  the  railway  contract- 
ors near  Mankato  he  came  home  every  Saturday 
night.  "  How  the  children  would  anxiously  wait 
for  Sunday  to  come,"  says  the  sister,  "  for  we  knew 
that  John  would  be  home.  Then  we  would  sit 
around  the  fireside,  and  listen  to  him  as  he  would 
tell  some  thrilling  tale  or  sing  some  of  the  old 
Southern  melodies.  We  —  and  the  neighbor's  chil- 
dren, too  —  would  sit  with  tears  streaming  down 
our  cheeks  as  he  sang  those  dear  old  folk  songs." 
The  quality  that  made  him  strike  the  responsive 
chord  in  all  men  so  long  as  he  lived  kept  him  in 
touch  with  the  little  children.     His  heart  was  full 

69 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

of  human  kindness,  and  he  had  a  way  of  getting  to 
the  best  side  of  human  nature  that  was  always 
one  of  his  elements  of  strength.  Even  when  he  was 
in  his  teens  he  made  speeches  at  village  gatherings 
that  brought  the  tears  to  the  cheeks  of  bearded  men. 
It  must  not  be  thought  that  John  Johnson  was  a 
paragon  of  virtue.  He  was  full  of  life  and  energy, 
and  like  other  boys  he  offended  at  times  by  omis- 
sion as  well  as  commission.  He  was  no  little,  sad- 
eyed  saint.  He  got  into  mischief  and  got  out  as 
best  he  could.  As  always  he  was  thoroughly 
human.  The  purpose  of  life  concerned  him  little, 
living  was  the  thing.  It  was  good  to  live,  to  enjoy, 
to  suffer,  to  run  the  gamut  of  human  experience, 
and  living,  with  him,  meant  helping  others  to  play 
the  game  just  as  much  as  playing  his  own  game. 
His  humanness  was  his  strength.  It  was  that  which 
made  the  tall,  thin,  awkward,  diffident,  poorly-clad 
boy  the  life  of  his  youthful  circle  in  St.  Peter,  that 
later  made  him  the  life  of  the  village,  and  later 
still  the  most  beloved  of  governors. 


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CHAPTER  V 

THE    JOURNALIST 

OPPORTUNITY  was  looking  for  John  John- 
son while  he  was  working  on  the  railroad. 
All  unknown  to  him  his  future  was  being  shaped. 
True  to  his  life-long  habit  of  doing  the  work  at 
hand,  leaving  the  future  to  take  care  of  itself,  he 
was  busying  himself  with  his  seventy-five  dollars 
a  month  position,  and  filling  every  nook  and  crevice 
of  it.  His  friends  were  planning  the  future.  He 
seemed  always  to  have  friends  who  looked  after 
his  future.  The  way  he  looked  after  the  present 
was  always  a  guaranty  for  other  men  to  plan  his  fu- 
ture. This  man's  whole  life  was  a  vindication  of 
human  nature.  He  justified  friendship  and  con- 
fidence, and  he  always  had  it.  A  half-interest  in 
the  St.  Peter  Herald  was  available  for  sale  in  the 
latter  part  of  1886.  Henry  Essler,  who  owned  the 
other  half,  and  was  the  possessor  of  good  judg- 
ment of  men,  made  up  his  mind  that  John  Johnson 
was  just  the  sort  of  man  he  wanted  for  editor  and 
half-owner.     He    said    as    much    to    Johnson    one 

7i 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

morning  in  December,  1886.  "  How  can  I  buy  a 
half-interest? ':  said  Johnson.  "I  haven't  any 
money?  "  "  That 's  all  right,"  replied  Essler,  "  I  '11 
get  some  people  you  know  to  buy  it  for  you,  if  you 
will  accept  the  offer."  "  I  don't  want  to  get  into 
debt  to  anyone,"  demurred  Johnson.  "  I  've  been 
trying  to  keep  out  of  debt  all  my  life,  and  I  don't 
want  to  begin  now."  Essler  tried  to  overcome 
John's  objections,  and  the  latter  said  in  a  day  or 
two  he  would  give  his  decision.  The  decision  was 
favorable,  and  thus  began  a  partnership  that  con- 
tinued harmoniously  for  many  years.  "  John  never 
gave  me  a  cross  word  in  the  nineteen  years  we  were 
together,"  says  Essler.  "  No  matter  what  happened 
he  was  always  trying  to  cheer  a  fellow  up." 

Essler  took  up  the  financial  question  with  some 
of  the  townspeople,  and  Major  A.  L.  Sackett,  always 
one  of  John  Johnson's  firm  friends,  and  Matt  Even- 
son  took  the  initiative  in  making  up  a  little  pool  to 
transform  the  contractor's  clerk  into  a  journalist. 
Dr.  A.  W.  Daniels,  faithful  friend  and  family 
physician,  Joseph  Mason,  Theodore  Knoll  and 
Jacob  Bauer  joined  with  them.  The  purchase  was 
made  at  once,  but  John  remained  with  the  contract- 
ors until  February  1,  1887.  The  Herald  was  a 
Democratic  publication.  John  was  then  consid- 
ered  a   Republican,   though,   like   most   Minnesota 

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THE  JOURNALIST 

people,  he  was  a  low-tariff  champion,  and  the  agita- 
tion of  the  tariff  in  the  eighties  had  begun  to  shake 
his  devotion  to  the  party.  It  was  considered  desir- 
able to  continue  the  Herald  as  a  Democratic  paper. 

"  John,"  said  Contractor  Peterson,  as  he  shook 
hands  with  the  young  man  in  farewell,  "  how  can 
you,  a  Republican,  become  the  editor  of  a  Demo- 
cratic paper?  " 

"  It  may  be  a  step  to  something  better,"  answered 
John. 

"  And,"  comments  Mr.  Peterson,  "  as  events 
turned  out,  it  certainly  was." 

To  understand  Johnson,  the  clerk,  becoming 
Johnson,  the  editor,  it  is  necessary  to  know  some- 
thing of  the  men  and  circumstances  and  self-educa- 
tion that  moulded  the  boy  through  his  struggling 
years.  To  begin  with,  St.  Peter  was  something 
more  than  an  ordinary  country  village.  It  was  a 
producer  of  big  men,  and  through  them  it  kept  in 
touch  with  the  outer  world.  The  town  was 
founded  by  Willis  A.  Gorman,  sent  to  Minnesota,  in 
1853,  as  the  second  governor  of  the  territory.  He 
was  a  member  of  a  company  which  proposed  to 
transfer  the  capital  from  St.  Paul  to  St.  Peter,  and 
the  future  city  was  laid  out  as  a  capital.  The  streets 
were  made  wide,  and  sites  were  reserved  for  the 
future  capitol  and  other  state  buildings.     But  the 

73 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

plan  failed  through  the  abstraction  of  the  bill  from 
the  legislative  files,  and  the  city  of  destiny  took  its 
place  with  a  thousand  other  cities  of  destiny.  Later 
St.  Peter  gave  the  state  three  governors  before 
Johnson's  time,  viz.,  Swift,  Austin  and  McGill,  and 
many  state  officials.  The  first  "  elegant  mansion  " 
in  the  Minnesota  Valley  was  built  just  below  the 
town  by  Charles  E.  Flandrau,  pioneer,  soldier,  old- 
time  gentleman  and  jurist.  St.  Peter  lost  the 
capital  but  it  got  the  Central  Lunatic  Asylum  of  the 
state,  and  that  fact  made  the  town  headquarters  for 
the  Board  of  Trustees,  eminent  men  in  the  state 
and  politicians.  Edward  Eggleston,  "  The  Hoosier 
Schoolmaster,"  was  there  for  a  while,  selling  soap 
from  house  to  house,  and  there  were  a  number  of 
big  men,  landed  by  fate  in  a  small  town  —  such  men 
as  J.  K.  Moore,  editor  of  the  Tribune;  John  and 
Harry  Lamberton,  Lt.-Gov.  G.  S.  Ives,  F.  A.  Dona- 
hower,  J.  B.  and  A.  L.  Sackett,  Henry  A.  Swift, 
Capt.  W.  B.  Dodd,  E.  E.  Paulding,  Major  B.  H. 
Randall,  C.  S.  Bryant,  Dr.  A.  W.  Daniels,  and 
Col.  Benjamin  F.  Pratt.  These  men  were  men  of 
ideas,  thought  and  expression.  In  his  daily  work 
in  the  stores,  in  village  affairs  and  society,  Johnson 
met  them  and  heard  them  talk.  Many  a  warm  po- 
litical debate  the  boy  eagerly  listened  to  in  the  win- 
ter evenings,  when  the  village  wise  men  foregath- 

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THE  JOURNALIST 

ered  at  the  store  and  disposed  of  the  fate  of  the 
state  and  the  nation.  They  were  well-read  men, 
too,  and  their  allusions  as  they  talked  stimulated 
John  Johnson  to  widen  his  intellectual  horizon  by 
reading.  Mr.  Donahower  exerted  a  very  strong- 
influence  on  the  boy  in  this  direction.  He  started 
John's  reading  with  Prescott's  "  Conquest  of  Mex- 
ico," which  was  followed  by  the  "  Conquest  of 
Peru,"  and  the  first  standard  novel,  Scott's  "  Ivan- 
hoe,"  and  then  followed  the  steady  absorption  of 
Dickens,  all  of  Scott's  novels  and  every  one  of 
Shakespeare's  plays,  many  of  the  latter  being  read 
several  times. 

"  Once  I  started  reading,"  he  said  years  after- 
ward, "  I  read  everything  I  could  reach ;  took  the 
shelves  straight  ahead  —  it  was  all  interesting.  I 
think  I  read  everything  in  that  attic  where  an  old 
town  library  had  been  dumped,  except  perhaps  the 
blue  books,  the  statistical  reports  and  tables  of 
logarithms.  I  was  reading  one  day  a  book,  '  The 
Boys  of  the  Order  of  the  White  Cross ' —  I  re- 
member it  was  a  red  book  with  the  letters  B.  O.  W. 
C.  in  white  across  the  front  cover  —  when  a  teacher 
in  the  Presbyterian  Sunday  school,  Capt.  J.  C.  Dona- 
hower, came  along. 

"  He  turned  the  book  over  and  gave  it  back  to 
me,  saying,  '  It  is  a  pity  to  waste  your  time  on  weak 

75 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

stuff  like  that.  If  you  will  promise  to  read  two 
books  I  will  name,  I  will  pay  one  dollar  and  a  half 
for  a  six  months'  subscription  to  the  library  for 
you.'  Of  course  I  promised  and  started  in  on  his 
choice,  '  The  Conquest  of  Mexico  '  and  '  Ivanhoe.' 

"  They  were  a  bit  difficult  in  their  first  chapters, 
but  they  held  me  from  my  sleep  before  I  got  through 
with  them. 

"  After  that  the  thirst  for  reading  was  a  flood,  a 
very  torrent  —  I  could  not  get  enough.  I  read 
Dickens  and  Scott;  I  read  Shakespeare,  and  de- 
claimed the  scenes  to  myself  at  night,  and  I  think  I 
got  as  much  pleasure  out  of  it  as  I  derived  from 
Keene's  '  Richard  the  Third,'  and  Modjeska's  '  As 
You  Like  It '  in  after  years." 

It  was  only  a  short  time  before  his  death  that 
writing  to  a  young  man,  who  had  inquired  as  to 
what  books  had  exerted  the  greatest  influence  on  his 
career,  the  Governor  said :  "  I  presume  the  great 
dramatist  exerted  a  greater  influence  than  any  other 
one  writer  because  of  the  delineation  of  so  many- 
sided  characters.  Out  of  him  came  the  inspiration 
to  read  more.  Historical  dramas  directed  me  to  the 
history  of  England,  and  Hume  and  Macaulay  nat- 
urally followed.  Then  I  turned  to  France  to  study 
her  romantic  history;  from  there  to  Germany  and 

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then  back  to  Rome  and  Greece,  Egypt  and  all  the 
Aryan  regions.  The  tendency  of  the  above  and 
kindred  books  interested  me  in  the  literature  and  his- 
tory of  my  own  country,  and  the  growth  of  the 
appetite  for  this  food  for  thought  doubtless  created 
a  desire  to  know  more  of  the  institutions  of  govern- 
ment here  and  abroad.  All  of  my  work  in  this 
direction  must  have  from  time  to  time  fired  me  with 
ambition  and  exalted  my  spirit  of  patriotic  duty. 
In  other  words  my  increased  knowledge  of  the 
world  and  the  men  who  made  its  history  and  affairs 
fitted  me  in  some  measure  for  the  duties  of  life." 

Thus  the  boy  who  washed  bottles  in  the  drug 
store  and  sat  behind  the  counter  with  his  chin  rest- 
ing on  his  hands,  eagerly  listening  to  the  discussions 
of  big  topics  by  the  village  wise  men,  listened  with  a 
mind  attuned  to  grave  matters  and  a  sense  that  his- 
tory was  being  made  all  around  him.  From  these 
hard-headed  men  he  learned  the  trick  of  practical 
everyday  argument.  They  taught  him  the  knack  of 
putting  an  opponent  to  flight  by  a  series  of  questions. 
It  is  still  a  tradition  in  St.  Peter,  of  how  the  young 
man  once  confronted  two  traveling  men  who  were 
getting  all  the  better  of  a  street  argument  by  the 
same  method.  Johnson  turned  their  own  weapons 
on  them,  and  they  finally  fled  to  their  hotel  followed 

77 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

by  a  hooting  crowd  immensely  delighted  that  a  sim- 
ple, green-looking  fellow  of  their  own  village  had 
put  the  outsiders  to  flight. 

In  the  letter  above  quoted  in  part  the  Governor 
advised  his  young  correspondent  to  cultivate  the 
"  art  of  communicating  what  you  know  to  others." 
From  the  very  beginning  of  his  reading  and  study, 
the  boy  cultivated  that  art  himself.  He  was  nat- 
urally diffident  and  inarticulate,  and  he  labored  hard 
to  overcome  these  defects.  He  drove  himself  to 
create  and  take  advantage  of  opportunities  for 
speaking,  and  often  through  his  diffidence  made  mis- 
erable failures  of  his  efforts,  but  in  time  he  came  to 
be  recognized  as  the  readiest  speaker  in  the  village. 
With  a  similar  purpose  of  unfolding  himself  he  iden- 
tified himself  with  everything  of  public  interest 
in  the  village.  He  joined  the  Presbyterian  church, 
sang  in  the  choir,  became  secretary  and  was  an  ac- 
tive and  helpful  member.  Later  he  was  a  charter 
member  of  the  St.  Peter  Lodge  of  the  Knights  of 
Pythias,  joined  the  Woodmen  and  still  later  the 
Mankato  Lodge  of  Elks.  After  he  was  governor 
he  became  a  Mason.  Until  much  public  speak- 
ing injured  his  voice,  he  was  a  good  singer  and 
dearly  enjoyed  singing.  Years  later  in  St.  Paul  a 
friend  asked  him  what  part  he  sang  in  the  choir. 

78 


GOVERNOR    JOHNSON    AT    DIFFERENT    AGES 


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"  I  thought  it  was  tenor,"  answered  the  Gov- 
ernor. 

In  every  county  seat  of  the  West  the  annual 
county  fair  is  a  milestone  in  the  progress  of  the 
community.  Johnson  worked  for  the  success  of  the 
Nicollet  county  fair  as  if  it  were  his  own  business. 
For  some  years  he  was  secretary  of  the  association, 
and  in  this  work  mastered  the  art  of  handling  men 
and  getting  along  with  them.  He  was  a  pastmas- 
ter  in  settling  disputes  and  dealing  with  exhibitors 
and  race  men.  He  could  always  get  a  better  racing 
card  than  the  neighboring  fairs.  Horse  owners 
would  take  their  racers  to  St.  Peter  because  of  their 
liking  for  Johnson. 

At  one  fair  there  were  no  entries  for  the  "  scrub  " 
running  race.  An  astute  horseman  conceived  the 
idea  of  entering  a  good  horse  as  a  scrub.  Johnson 
accepted  the  entry  fee,  but  questioned  whether  the 
race  would  "  fill."  "  Come  around  and  get  your 
money  back,"  he  advised,  "  if  we  don't  pull  it  off." 
Other  horsemen  had  the  same  idea  as  the  first  and 
came  around  to  enter  their  fast  nags  as  scrubs. 
Johnson  took  their  money  but  gave  them  all  the 
same  warning.  Each  professional  regarded  the  race 
as  a  sure  thing.  When  the  entrants  came  onto  the 
track  they  made  up  the  best  bunch  of  race  horses 

79 

6 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

seen  in  a  St.  Peter  race  in  years.  None  of  the  pro- 
fessionals dared  complain,  and  the  secretary  chuc- 
kled inwardly. 

In  keeping  with  his  general  program  of  all-around 
activity  the  young  man  entered  the  National  Guard 
in  1883,  enlisting  as  a  private  in  Company  I  of  the 
Second  Infantry,  M.  N.  G.  He  became  captain  and 
was  honorably  discharged  after  five  years  of  service. 
He  was  again  elected  captain  of  the  company  in 
1892,  but  obtained  an  honorable  discharge  after  a 
few  months  of  service.  Company  I  stood  high  as 
a  military  organization,  and  contributed  its  part  to 
the  notable  achievement  of  the  Second  Regiment  in 
taking  the  second  prize  in  the  international  regimen- 
tal competitive  drill  held  in  President  Cleveland's 
presence  in  Chicago  in  1887. 

Thus  with  wide  interests  and  self -education,  John 
Johnson,  though  utterly  ignorant  of  the  mechan- 
ical side  of  newspaper  work,  and  knowing  nothing 
of  the  process  of  making  "  copy,"  was,  after  all, 
well-fitted  for  the  post  of  country  editor.  Henry 
Essler  was  amply  able  to  take  care  of  the  mechanical 
end  of  the  newspaper  and  job  printing  office.  Even 
there  John  could  help  some  by  main  strength.  John 
knew  everybody  in  the  village  and  surrounding 
country,  could  sympathize  with  the  village  loafer, 
advise  the  mayor,  play  a  game  of  cards  in  a  dull 

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hour,  organize  a  baseball  nine,  play  a  very  good 
game  himself,  infuse  life  into  a  social  club,  write 
gossipy  reports  of  local  news,  and  produce  a  learned 
editorial  now  and  then.  Human  life  interested  him 
always;  the  particular  aspect  of  human  life  before 
him  was  that  of  St.  Peter;  Johnson,  therefore,  was 
intensely  interested  in  everything  that  pertained  to 
St.  Peter.  He  knew  exactly  the  point  of  view  of 
his  readers,  he  was  interested  in  what  they  were  in- 
terested in,  he  could  give  them  what  they  wanted. 
The  paper  reflected  local  life  as  he  saw  it  and  as 
he  preferred  to  brighten  it.  The  very  incarnation 
of  good  nature  and  tolerance  himself,  his  paper  was 
charitable,  optimistic,  helpful.  Just  at  the  start  the 
sense  of  his  importance  as  a  journalist  caused  him 
to  write  one  bitter  article.  In  this  he  declared  that 
Governor  McGill  in  selecting  the  editor  of  the  St. 
Peter  Tribune  for  private  secretary  had  appointed 
an  incompetent.  The  new  editor  of  the  Tribune 
came  out  with  an  article  vindicating  the  appoint- 
ment and  Johnson  was  convinced  that  he  had  made 
a  mistake.  When  he  was  governor,  dining  one  day 
with  the  rival  editor  of  old  who  had  set  him  right, 
he  assured  the  newspaper  man  that  he  had  never 
forgotten  the  lesson  then  learned,  and  that  never 
after  his  first  month  as  a  journalist  had  he  ever  writ- 
ten an  unkind  word  of  any  person.     From  that  time 

81 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

on  his  editorials  never  contained  personal  attacks. 
Writing  "  A  Tribute  to  My  Friend,"  this  rival  jour- 
nalist of  old  St.  Peter  days,  P.  V.  Collins,  now  pub- 
lisher of  the  Northwestern  Agriculturist,  referred  to 
this  incident  and  added: 

"  What  a  noble  rule  for  one  buffeting  in  journal- 
ism and  politics.  How  it  opened  the  secret  of  his 
kind,  sympathetic  personality  to  confess  this  to  have 
been,  throughout  his  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  of 
editorial  experience,  the  fundamental  principle  on 
which  his  action  had  ever  been  based!  And  no 
man  ever  had  bitterer  attacks  made  upon  him  —  at- 
tacks of  a  personal,  shameful,  exasperating  charac- 
ter by  men  so  mean  and  despicable  that  they  could 
sneer  half  truths  that  cut  so  much  more  keenly  than 
whole  falsehoods.  Yet  through  such  bitterness,  not 
one  word  of  personal  retort  did  John  A.  Johnson 
ever  write  or  speak  or  permit  to  appear  in  the  col- 
umns he  controlled." 

It  is  unusual  for  the  editors  of  rival  papers  in  a 
small  town  to  keep  their  political  and  business  op- 
position from  degenerating  into  personal  enmity, 
narrow  and  bitter.  But  Johnson  seems  to  have  been 
strong  enough  and  broad  enough  to  avoid  that  pit- 
fall. Mr.  Collins  is  not  the  only  one  to  testify 
on  this  point.  In  1897  Mr.  W.  E.  Cowles  bought 
the  St.   Peter  Journal,  which  then  had  very  poor 

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mechanical  equipment,  the  press  being  an  old  Wash- 
ington hand  press.  Johnson  understood  the  situa- 
tion—  he  had  worked  a  hand  press  himself  —  and 
invited  Mr.  Cowles  to  send  his  forms  over  every 
week  and  have  them  run  off  on  the  Herald's  cylin- 
der press.  This  invitation  was  accepted  and  for  six 
months  Essler  &  Johnson  printed  the  rival  paper, 
without  thought  of  sending  a  bill.  Cowles  asked 
for  a  bill  but  Johnson  said  that  he  and  his  partner 
were  only  performing  a  neighborly  act  —  and  did 
not  expect  pay  for  it.  He  was  finally  prevailed 
upon,  however,  to  accept  $50  for  the  service. 

When  Johnson  took  up  his  editorial  work,  the 
Herald  was  printed  in  an  old  ramshackle  frame 
building  across  the  street  from  its  present  quar- 
ters. One  evening,  while  the  proprietors  were  ab- 
sent, the  building  burned  down  and  all  their  prop- 
erty was  destroyed.  The  rear  part  of  the  second 
story  of  the  opposite  brick  building  was  immedi- 
ately secured  at  the  princely  rental  of  $5  per  month, 
and  a  new  outfit,  including  a  hand  press,  was  in- 
stalled. The  space  was  limited,  but  so  was  the 
business  and  circulation  of  the  paper.  Johnson 
never  took  much  interest  in  the  mechanical  side  of 
the  paper,  but  on  publication  days,  it  was  his  duty 
as  the  taller  partner  to  "  pull  the  press  "  while  Ess- 
ler applied  the  ink  to  it.     There  was  little  furni- 

83 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

ture  in  the  room  and  no  desks.  Johnson  wrote  his 
editorials  and  local  items  on  the  top  of  an  old  wash- 
stand,  which  is  still  a  feature  of  the  Herald  office. 
The  new  venture,  however,  proved  to  be  a  success 
and  a  fair  measure  of  prosperity  came  to  the  part- 
ners, resulting  in  the  enlargement  of  the  office,  the 
installation  of  a  cylinder  press  and  other  modern 
equipment.  Johnson's  share  of  the  profits  of  the 
business  were  such  that  within  a  year  from  under- 
taking it,  he  was  able  to  repay  his  five  backers  in 
full. 

Now,  at  the  age  of  27,  the  son  of  the  village 
washerwoman  found  himself  well-advanced  on  the 
ladder  of  achievement.  He  was  an  important  factor 
and  power  in  the  community.  To  his  old  hold  of 
good  fellowship  and  neighborliness  he  had  added  the 
prestige  of  editorship  and  business  success.  The 
boy  who  had  carried  his  mother's  washing,  who  had 
known  every  pinch  and  humiliation  of  poverty,  was 
now  one  of  the  leading  men  of  the  same  community 
which  had  witnessed  all  his  early  struggles  and  pri- 
vations. Absolutely,  measured  by  standards  of 
achievement  in  large  affairs,  this  was  a  small  tri- 
umph ;  but  to  John  Johnson  and  the  village  it  loomed 
large.  Measured  by  their  standards  it  was  enough 
to  turn  the  head  of  a  superficial  young  man.  But 
the  young  editor  was  no  more  spoiled  by  his  achieve- 

84 


THE  JOURNALIST 

ment  than  he  was  afterwards  by  election  to  the  gov- 
ernorship of  a  great  state.  In  this  very  first  year 
of  success  —  after  the  paper  was  paid  for  —  John- 
son was  laid  low  by  typhoid  fever.  For  a  time  his 
life  was  despaired  of,  and  intestinal  complications 
developed,  which  are  believed  to  have  been  the  be- 
ginning of  the  disorder,  which,  after  four  opera- 
tions, ultimately  resulted  in  his  death  just  twenty 
years  later. 

The  Herald,  under  Johnson's  editorial  manage- 
ment, was  not  greatly  different  from  hundreds  of 
country  papers.  It  abounded  in  the  petty  items  of 
village  news  which  are  the  delight  of  the  metropoli- 
tan journalistic  humorist.  The  editor  lived  the  life 
of  his  readers,  and  it  was  his  business  to  chronicle 
their  doings.  This  petty  chronicling  was  not  dis- 
tasteful to  him  —  it  was  human  life  he  was  record- 
ing, it  was  interesting  to  those  who  were  living  that 
small  section  of  life,  and  it  was  interesting  to  John- 
son. There  was  the  usual  vein  of  rural  humor  in 
dealing  with  the  local  happenings,  that  sort  of  hu- 
mor with  which  friends  joke  each  other  about  the 
little  things  of  daily  life,  which,  of  course,  is  not 
appreciated  by  those  who  are  not  of  the  circle.  The 
editorial  page,  as  a  rule,  was  made  up  of  paragraphs 
and  short  editorials.  Johnson  never  conceived  that 
it  was  his  duty  as  a  journalist  to  be  lecturing  his 

85 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

friends  and  "  roasting  "  his  enemies.  He  was  not 
given  to  the  "  hifalutin  "  style  of  editorial,  and  he 
was  never  obsessed  by  the  idea  that  it  was  his  duty 
as  a  country  journalist  to  undertake  to  reform  the 
world.  He  conceived  that  he  had  done  his  duty 
when  he  covered  the  local  news  field,  published  a 
clean  paper  of  good  typographical  appearance,  and 
discussed  matters  of  national  import  to  the  extent 
and  in  the  manner  that  would  appeal  to  and  interest 
his  readers.  The  Herald  was  a  St.  Peter,  Minn., 
paper,  and  Johnson,  therefore,  was  for  St.  Peter, 
Minn.  He  was  ready  and  keen  to  do  all  he  could 
to  promote  and  develop  the  little  city.  Every  plan 
or  undertaking  to  advance  the  town's  commercial 
interests,  lift  its  intellectual  plane,  improve  its  phys- 
ical appearance  met  with  his  cordial  assistance. 

Country  editors  exchange  papers  with  each  other 
and  watch  each  other's  work  rather  closely.  The 
St.  Peter  Herald  soon  came  to  be  known  by  the 
publishers  of  other  country  papers  in  Minnesota  as 
one  of  the  leaders,  and  as  the  country  editors  met 
and  became  acquainted  with  their  new  fellow-la- 
borer, he  gradually  warmed  his  way  into  their  es- 
teem and  affection,  just  as  he  had  years  before  won 
his  home-folk. 

Of  course,  Johnson  had  his  troubles  —  what 
newspaper  man  has  not?     He  endeavored  to  make 

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THE  JOURNALIST 

his  paper  as  amiable  as  himself,  but  occasionally  he 
was  bound  to  rub  someone  the  wrong  way.  Let  a 
newspaper  man  be  as  wise  as  a  serpent  and  as  cau- 
tious as  possible,  he  can  never  tell  what  will  be  the 
effect  of  some  innocent  paragraph.  The  country 
editor  has  a  harder  time  in  this  respect  than  the 
city  editor,  for  he  and  his  paper  are  one  and  the 
same.  The  editor's  personality  is  read  into  every 
item  that  appears  in  the  country  paper. 

"  You  can  never  tell,"  said  Governor  Johnson,  one 
day,  talking  about  his  journalistic  experiences, 
"  when  the  most  innocent  paragraph  will  give  mortal 
offense  to  someone.  Some  years  ago  there  was  a 
convention  of  Luxembourgers  in  St.  Paul.  Just  to 
fill  up  a  little  hole  in  the  paper  I  wrote  a  paragraph 
something  like  this :  '  The  Luxembourgers  are 
holding  a  convention  in  St.  Paul.  We  suppose  the 
Limbourgers  will  be  holding  a  convention  next.' 
Never  again  did  I  try  to  get  facetious  about  Lim- 
bourger  or  Limbourgers.  It  turned  out  that  sev- 
eral of  the  most  influential  townspeople  were  Lux- 
embourgers. They  took  my  playful  paragraph  as  a 
slap  at  people  from  their  principality.  They  with- 
drew their  advertising  from  the  Herald,  stopped 
their  subscriptions,  and  when  I  came  up  as  a  can- 
didate for  the  legislature  they  were  among  my 
strongest  opponents." 

87 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

When  the  editor  took  a  journey  it  was  incum- 
bent upon  him  to  notify  his  readers.  On  departing 
for  the  World's  Fair  in  Chicago  in  1893,  Johnson 
wrote :  — 

"  The  Herald  will  be  in  charge  of  C.  S.  Hanscome 
during  the  ensuing  ten  days,  and  persons  having  any 
old  grievances  will  please  call  while  he  is  in  charge. 
For  any  of  the  mean  things  we  have  said  or  done 
he  will  make  apologies  or  amends,  and  he  will  also 
attend  to  delinquent  subscriptions." 

In  due  time  the  editor  took  unto  himself  a  wife  — 
and  this  is  the  way  that  important  event  was  an- 
nounced to  his  readers: 

"  MARRIAGE  NOTICE. 
"  Preston-Johnson. 

"  While  this  office  has  not  decided  to  open  up  a 
matrimonial  bureau  it  has  given  some  thought  re- 
cently to  matters  that  follow  in  that  line.  A  part  of 
the  staff  has  enjoyed  the  delights  of  being  ineligible 
to  the  councils  of  the  N.  E.  Y.  B.  [Nineteen  Eligi- 
ble Young  Bachelors]  for  a  couple  of  years,  while 
another  part  has  been  groping  along  the  paths  of 
solitude.  As  procrastination  is  the  thief  of  time, 
we  have  decided  that  we  shall  not  put  off  till  to- 
morrow what  can  as  well  be  done  to-day,  and  there- 
fore, it  may  surprise  some  of  our  friends  to  learn 

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THE  JOURNALIST 

that  at  four  o'clock  this  afternoon  J.  A.  Johnson, 
of  this  paper,  will  wed  Miss  Nora  Preston  of  this 
city.  The  ceremony  will  be  a  private  one,  and  will 
be  conducted  in  the  presence  of  relatives  only.  It 
will  occur  at  the  residence  of  the  Rev.  P.  Cary,  he 
officiating.  The  bride  will  be  attended  by  Miss 
Minnie  Ludcke,  while  the  groom  will  be  attended 
by  E.  C.  Johnson.  The  happy  couple,  and  we  use 
the  term  advisedly,  will  make  no  wedding  tour  at 
present,  but  in  a  few  weeks  will  journey  to  the 
Black  Hills  for  a  brief  visit.  They  will  take  up  a 
temporary  residence  at  the  Hotel  Nicollet,  and  after 
June  I,  will  be  at  home  to  their  friends  at  the  pres- 
ent home  of  Mr.  Johnson.  Of  the  groom,  we  have 
nothing  to  say.  He  will  communicate  his  opinion 
of  himself  later.  The  bride-elect  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  St.  Peter  for  some  months,  in  which  time 
she  has  endeared  herself  to  all  who  know  her  by 
those  estimable  qualities  which  all  admire.  If  the 
future  is  as  bright  for  the  happy  couple  as  we  hope 
it  will  be  it  will  indeed  be  a  happy  one." 

Editor  Johnson  conducted  a  weekly  column 
headed  "  It 's  a  Fact,"  in  which  he  hit  off  his  ideas 
on  the  passing  show  in  short  sentences.  This  col- 
umn though  it  contained  much  that  is  commonplace, 
much  of  purely  local  interest,  and  much  that  is 
trivial,  gave  the  editor  regular  training  in  saying 

89 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

things  concisely  and  pointedly  —  and  sometimes  hu- 
morously—  which  shows  its  results  later  in  his 
speeches  and  addresses.  The  following  are  excerpts 
taken  at  random  from  this  column:  — 


IT'S  A  FACT  — 

That  no  man  can  lounge  into  success. 

That  the  platform  of  a  party  is  like  the  platform 
of  a  car  —  made  to  get  in  on,  but  not  to  stand  on. 

That  the  whistle  of  a  locomotive  does  not  always 
indicate  the  size  of  a  town. 

That  nothing  beats  a  good  wife  except  a  bad  hus- 
band. 

That  some  women  are  things  of  beauty  and  joy 
forever;  some  men  are  things  forever. 

That  the  harvest  of  life  is  best  when  the  field  is 
rocky. 

That  it  is  an  open  question  whether  the  man  who 
works  himself  to  death  really  makes  a  living. 

That  because  a  man  has  a  train  of  thought  is  no 
sign  that  he  has  wheels. 

That  it  is  good  to  be  frugal,  but  it  is  also  good 
to  be  just  a  bit  liberal.     One  quality  makes  the  other 

shine. 

That  truth  is  stranger  than  fiction  because  there 

is  less  of  it. 

90 


THE  JOURNALIST 

That  to  pity  distress  is  human ;  to  relieve  it  is  — 
well,  little  short  of  being  Godlike. 

That  society  leaders  who  are  in  the  swim  seem 
to  dress  for  their  occupation. 

That  training  will  do  much  for  a  man,  but  it  has 
never  taught  him  to  look  for  a  towel  before  rilling 
his  eyes  with  soap. 

That  the  reason  so  many  women  go  into  the  legal 
profession  is  because  their  word  is  law  now. 

That  there  seems  to  be  no  earthly  reason  for  dis- 
covering the  North  Pole  unless  it  be  to  avoid  future 
expeditions. 

That  gloves  are  worn  at  night  to  make  the  hands 
soft.  Is  this  the  reason  why  some  men  wear  skull- 
caps? 

That  the  man  has  true  manhood  who,  regarding 
himself  as  one  of  the  great  family  of  man,  has 
broad  ideas  of  his  relations  to  his  fellows,  is  will- 
ing to  share  with  them  what  he  may  possess,  and 
labors  for  the  good  of  humanity  with  only  mod- 
erate desires  for  the  gratification  of  personal  in- 
dulgences. 

That  persistence  is  better  than  insistence. 

That  the  person  who  fails  after  doing  the  very 
best  possible  has  still  done  well. 

That  a  rejected  matrimonial  proposal  is  an  ex- 
emplification of  the  decline  of  man. 

91 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

That  the  abilities  of  some  men  are  great,  but  their 
liabilities  are  greater. 

That  disputes  will  reduce  a  wise  man  to  the  level 
of  a  fool,  but  they  never  elevate  a  fool  to  the  plane 
of  a  wise  man. 

That  a  man  is  foolish  who  wastes  his  time  trying 
to  get  even  with  somebody  else.  It  costs  more 
than  it  is  worth. 

That  men  sometimes  have  more  respect  for  their 
subordinates  than  their  subordinates  have  for  them. 

That  to  brood  over  the  past  is  to  misspend  the 
present  and  jeopardize  the  future. 

That  one's  success  depends  largely  on  what  he 
does  not  say. 

That  rumors  and  editors  differ  very  materially  in 
one  respect,  at  least.  Rumors  always  gain  cur- 
rency, while  editors  seldom  do. 

That  we  would  say  to  those  who  expect  to  run 
for  office  this  spring  that  this  is  the  time  to  begin 
to  blunt  your  finer  feelings. 

That  vulgar  wealth  is  a  repellant  thing,  but 
many  prefer  it  to  even  a  refined,  to  say  nothing  of 
a  coarse,  poverty. 

While  John  Johnson,  the  editor,  was  agreeable, 
complaisant,  accommodating  and  trouble-avoiding, 
he  could  be   as  immovable  as   Gibraltar  when  he 

92 


THE  JOURNALIST 

thought  there  was  necessity  for  a  stand.  People 
would  come  into  the  office  to  protest  and  argue 
against  some  position  the  Herald  had  taken.  If  the 
discussion  threatened  to  be  interminable,  John  would 
manage  in  some  way,  without  giving  offense,  to 
get  his  hat  and  drift  out  of  the  office,  leaving  the 
debate  to  Essler  or  someone  else.  After  awhile 
he  would  appear  under  the  office  window  and  as- 
certain by  calling  to  Essler  whether  the  argumenta- 
tive ones  had  gone.  If  the  reply  was  favorable 
John  would  return  to  work.  If  not  he  would  stride 
away  down  the  street.  This  way  of  disposing  of 
opposition  was  characteristic.  He  did  not  override 
opposition  —  he  wore  it  out  or  let  it  use  itself  up. 
When  Johnson  decided  against  anyone  the  decision 
came  so  gently  and  gradually  that  the  person  denied 
could  not  tell  precisely  when  or  how  it  was  done. 
He  found  out  in  some  easy  way  that  he  was  against 
an  unalterable  decision  —  and  in  encountering  that 
decision  he  experienced  less  pain  than  Johnson  did 
in  giuig  it 


93 


CHAPTER  VI 

A    WIDER    CIRCLE 

AS  a  newspaper  man  John  Johnson  entered 
into  a  larger  circle  of  friends,  acquaintances 
and  interests.  Heretofore  St.  Peter  had  been  not 
only  the  center  but  also  the  whole  circle  of  his  life. 
Henceforth  it  was  to  continue  to  be  the  center,  but 
it  was  the  center  from  which  a  circle  of  ever 
lengthening  radius  was  described.  Editorship  of 
the  Herald  carried  with  it  admission  to  the  Minne- 
sota Editors'  and  Publishers'  Association,  an  organ- 
ization of  much  vitality,  which  closely  knit  together 
all  the  better  and  more  enterprising  country  pub- 
lishers of  the  state.  It  is  and  was  an  organization 
which  has  created  and  fostered  for  years  many 
strong  friendships.  It  has  always  been  notable  for 
its  large  number  of  good  fellows  of  wit,  humor  and 
broad  humanity.  It  was  just  the  sort  of  a  circle 
to  welcome  John  Johnson,  full  of  life,  enthusiasm 
and  ideas  and  highly  delighted  with  his  new  calling 
and,  moreover,  no  bookworm,  for  all  his  burning 
of  midnight  oil,  but  one  capable  of  being  one  of 

94 


A  WIDER  CIRCLE 

the  boys  whenever  "  good  fellows  get  together." 
So  John  Johnson  now  had  another  opportunity  to 
"  make  good,"  and  again  he  succeeded  in  that  easy 
way  of  his  —  that  way  of  attaining  ends  without 
seeming  effort.  Four  years  after  becoming  an 
editor  he  was  elected  secretary  of  the  Association, 
and  was  already  prominent  in  Association  affairs. 
Two  years  later  —  in  1893,  he  was  elected  president 
of  the  Association. 

It  was  the  year  of  the  World's  Fair  at  Chicago, 
and  the  Association  had  decided  to  make  its  excur- 
sion for  that  year  a  week's  visit  to  the  Fair.  The 
Minnesota  Building  was  to  be  dedicated  on  May 
18th,  and  the  editors  had  timed  their  excursion  to 
be  present,  in  response  to  an  invitation  from  L.  P. 
Hunt,  the  Minnesota  representative  at  the  Fair. 
For  some  reason,  not  fully  understood,  Governor 
(now  U.  S.  Senator)  Knute  Nelson  postponed  the 
dedication  until  June  ist--and  this  announcement 
was  made  the  day  before  the  editors  departed  for 
Chicago.  The  editors  were  greatly  disappointed, 
but  on  the  way  to  Chicago  President  Johnson  and 
some  others  conceived  the  idea  of  having  an  edi- 
torial dedication  of  the  Minnesota  Building,  any- 
way, leaving  the  Governor  to  have  the  official  dedi- 
cation at  any  time  that  might  suit  him.  As  the 
editors  felt  that  they  had  been  largely  responsible 

95 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

for  the  increased  appropriation  which  made  it  pos- 
sible for  Minnesota  to  have  a  creditable  showing, 
the  idea  of  having  their  own  dedication  proved  to 
be  very  popular.  Arriving  in  Chicago,  President 
Johnson  and  a  self -constituted  committee  called  on 
the  Minnesota  commissioners  to  secure  their  permis- 
sion for  the  exercises.  The  commissioners,  not  de- 
siring to  offend  the  Governor,  consented,  then  with- 
drew their  consent,  and  finally  consented  again, 
upon  the  announcement  of  the  committee  that  if  the 
editors  could  not  get  into  the  building  they  would 
hold  their  exercises  in  the  street.  The  editors,  be- 
ing in  the  saddle,  determined  to  make  the  dedication 
so  elaborate  that  there  would  be  no  other.  In  the 
absence  of  the  Governor,  State  Senator  Keller  was 
prevailed  upon  to  represent  the  state,  and  it  was  to 
him  that  President  Johnson  handed  the  keys  of  the 
building  after  his  address  of  dedication.  The 
speech  was  the  best  the  future  governor  had  made 
up  to  that  time.  It  delighted  his  listeners,  who  were 
sure  that  the  Governor  himself  could  not  have  done 
better.  This  address,  together  with  other  addresses, 
and  a  program  of  song,  made  up  such  a  complete 
dedication  that  Governor  Nelson  indefinitely  post- 
poned the  official  dedication  of  the  building.  It  was 
said  that  at  first  Governor  Nelson  was  greatly  of- 
fended at  the  usurpation  of  authority  by  the  editors, 

96 


A  WIDER  CIRCLE 

but  later,  appreciating  the  boldness  of  the  conception 
and  the  excellence  of  its  execution,  was  delighted 
with  the  audacity  which  deprived  him  of  figuring 
in  an  official  dedication. 

In  1896  the  Editorial  Association  published  a 
history  of  its  proceedings,  and  the  chapter  therein 
devoted  to  John  A.  Johnson  shows  that  his  editorial 
friends  had  a  good  and  adequate  idea  of  his  capaci- 
ties some  years  before  they  were  understood  beyond 
that  circle.  After  speaking  of  the  wide  vogue  of 
the  "  It  Is  a  Fact  "  column  of  the  St.  Peter  Herald, 
and  remarking  on  Johnson's  ability  to  write  good 
"  stuff,"  the  historian  continues :  — 

"  Mr.  Johnson  is  an  orator  as  well  as  an  editor, 
and  no  editorial  meeting  or  banquet  at  which  he  is 
present  fails  to  find  him  '  on  the  list '  as  one  of 
the  speakers.  It  can  be  added  that  no  more  enjoy- 
able speech  than  his  is  made  upon  such  an  occasion. 
If  he  had  been  a  member  of  the  dominant  political 
party  he  would  long  since  have  attained  high  politi- 
cal position.  A  credit  to  his  profession,  having 
gained  a  wide  state  prominence  in  the  brief  ten 
years  of  his  newspaper  life,  he  has  ability  to  win 
fame  in  a  wider  field,  and  it  will  always  be  a  matter 
of  congratulation  on  the  part  of  the  Editorial  Asso- 
ciation in  future  years  to  point  to  the  fact  that  John 
A.  Johnson  has  filled  the  position  of  president." 

97 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

But  while  Johnson  was  cultivating  the  wider 
field  he  was  not  forgetting  "  old  St.  Peter,"  where, 
on  the  occasion  of  a  picnic  speech,  he  had  once 
declared  he  would  live  and  die.  He  continued  to 
live  with  much  zest  the  life  of  the  town,  and  be  a 
very  large  part  of  that  life.  He  was  the  leading 
spirit  in  the  "  Nineteen  Eligible  Young  Bachelors  " 
until  he  was  automatically  retired  from  membership, 
as  related  by  himself  in  the  foregoing  chapter. 
These  young  bachelors  were  a  gay  crowd,  and  did 
not  hesitate,  on  occasion,  to  spend  their  money  in 
giving  their  friends  a  good  time.  It  is  related  that 
they  once  gave  a  dinner  and  ball  at  the  Hotel 
Nicollet  in  St.  Peter  which  cost  each  of  the  "  Nine- 
teen "  twenty  dollars. 

Socially  Johnson  was  never  handicapped  by  his 
humble  and  foreign  origin  any  more  than  he  was 
in  journalism  and  politics.  He  always  had  the 
entree  to  the  best  society  there  was  in  St.  Peter, 
and  there  is  no  manner  of  doubt  that  the  democracy 
and  hospitality  of  the  little  town  contributed  much 
to  that  fine  and  rare  confidence  Johnson  always 
had  in  humanity.  People  always  gave  him  a 
chance ;  he  always  gave  the  people  a  chance.  To 
give  some  idea  of  the  social  and  out-of-business- 
hours  Johnson  of  St.  Peter,  it  is  necessary  to  go 
somewhat  back  of  his  entrance  into  journalism,  to 

98 


A  WIDER  CIRCLE 

a  time  when  he  was  a  very  humble  human  unit. 
When  John  Johnson  was  clerking  in  the  store  of 
Stark  Bros.  &  Davis  in  the  fall  of  1880  there  came 
into  the  employ  of  the  firm  a  young  man  from  the 
farm,  D.  A.  Rankin.  The  two  occupied  as  bed- 
room a  little  space  curtained  off  in  a  corner  of  the 
store,  and  soon  became  good  friends  as  well  as 
loyal  co-workers. 

"  Johnnie,  at  this  time,"  says  Mr.  Rankin,  who 
is  now  a  resident  of  Minneapolis,  "  sang  at  the 
morning  service  in  the  choir  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  and  was  librarian  in  the  Sunday  school, 
whose  superintendent  was  a  Mr.  Downs.  St.  Peter 
was  at  this  time  an  ideal  country  town.  Its  best 
homes  were  always  open  to  the  young  man,  how- 
ever humble  his  circumstances,  if  he  were  known 
to  be  honorable  and  keep  clean  company.  Governor 
Johnson,  then  but  little  more  than  a  boy,  had  many 
friends  among  the  business  and  professional  men  in 
the  community :  such  men  as  L.  C.  Lord,  then  prin- 
cipal of  the  schools,  now  president  of  the  state 
normal  school  at  Charleston,  111.,  and  the  late  Rev. 
George  McAfee,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 
often  came  in  after  the  store  closed  and  encouraged 
the  young  man  in  his  efforts  to  supply  the  deficien- 
cies in  his  education.  A  debating  society  was 
organized  by  ten  or  twelve  young  men,  including 

99 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

Johnnie  and  myself,  a  room  was  rented,  and  individ- 
ual desks  for  members  were  made  out  of  dry  goods 
boxes.  Regular  debates  were  held,  and  if  it  was 
not  here  that  the  Governor's  desire  to  become  a 
public  speaker  was  born  it  was  here,  at  least,  greatly 
strengthened. 

"  Often,  after  the  closing  of  the  store,  Johnnie 
would  mount  a  dry  goods  box  and  declaim,  while 
I  acted  as  audience  and  critic. 

"Of  John's  fun-loving  propensities  we  were  con- 
stantly reminded.  One  time,  I  remember,  John 
nearly  broke  up  a  very  select  party  in  a  home  near 
the  park.  In  some  way  he  secured  possession  of  the 
village  band  instruments,  and  with  his  comrades 
made  such  a  discord  around  the  house  that  con- 
versation was  impossible.  The  single  policeman 
was  rendered  nearly  frantic  in  his  efforts  to  suppress 
the  serenaders.  On  another  similar  occasion,  the 
boy  took  all  the  chairs  out  of  the  chapel  and 
arranged  them  in  two  rows  around  the  house  of  the 
party.  In  each  chair  he  placed  a  follower  armed 
with  a  tin  pan,  borrowed  from  a  hardware  store. 
The  tin  pan  brigade  kept  up  such  a  deafening  noise 
that  the  company  had  to  cut  short  their  festivities. 

"  We  were  fellow  ushers  at  the  Sunday  evening 
services  at  the  Presbyterian  church,  and  if  there 
came  in  a  young  man  with  a  young  lady  for  the 

ioo 


A  WIDER  CIRCLE 

first  time,  the  governor-to-be  would  always  solemnly 
conduct  the  blushing  couple  down  the  aisle  to  the 
front  pew,  much  to  the  quiet  merriment  of  pastor 
and  congregation, 

"  John's  was  a  sunny  disposition.  He  was 
friendly  to  everybody  and  had  a  fine,  independent, 
manly  nature.  He  was  a  pure  type  of  that  product 
of  the  West  and  free  government  which  is  able  to 
look  any  man  straight  in  the  eye,  and  without 
offense  brooks  no  assumption  of  superiority.  John 
always  thought  that  he  had  a  title  to  the  best  there 
was.  I  never  heard  him  express  unworthy  senti- 
ments or  use  foul  language." 

John,  being  highly  sociable  and  devoted  to  good 
company,  was  always  popular  with  the  girls  of 
St.  Peter.  He  had  two  or  three  rather  alarming 
affairs  of  the  heart  in  earlier  years,  but  it  was  not 
till  Miss  Elinor  Preston  came  to  St.  Peter  to  teach 
in  the  parochial  school  that  he  met  his  fate.  Within 
a  few  weeks  after  the  first  meeting,  it  was  with 
John  only  a  question  of  whether  he  could  muster 
courage  to  declare  his  affection  and  whether  such 
a  declaration  would  be  accepted.  Time  and  time 
again  he  would  nerve  himself  to  the  supreme  test, 
only  to  retreat,  in  confusion,  and  have  to  admit  to 
himself  that  he  was  a  miserable  coward.  His  at- 
tentions to  Miss  Preston  became  so  marked  and  his 

IOI 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

calls  at  the  school  so  frequent  that  the  sister  su- 
perior thought  it  was  incumbent  upon  her  to  look 
into  the  affair  a  little.  So,  one  day,  when  John 
called  for  Miss  Preston,  determined  for  the  twen- 
tieth time  to  put  his  fate  to  the  test,  he  was  told 
that  the  sister  superior  wished  to  see  him. 

John  was  alarmed.  With  a  choking  sensa- 
tion he  listened  while  the  sister  dwelt  upon  the 
frequency  of  his  calls,  the  embarrassment  his  at- 
tentions must  cause  a  teacher  and  the  consideration 
he  as  a  gentleman  owed  to  a  young  woman.  The 
general  trend  of  the  sister's  remarks  was  that  if 
Mr.  Johnson  was  merely  having  a  good  time  with 
Miss  Preston  he  owed  it  to  her  to  become  less 
marked  in  his  attentions. 

"  You  have  given  me  the  courage,"  said  the  em- 
barrassed and  perturbed  Johnson,  "  to  say  what  I 
have  long  wanted  to  say.  I  assure  you  that  my  in- 
tentions with  respect  to  Miss  Preston  are  of  the 
most  serious  nature.     I  — " 

"  That  is  enough,"  said  the  sister.  "  I  will  send 
for  Miss  Preston." 

Miss  Preston  came,  and  they  started  for  the  car- 
riage drive  John  had  planned.  But  the  longer  they 
drove  the  less  became  John's  courage  - —  as  on  many 
previous  occasions. 

102 


A  WIDER  CIRCLE 

"What  did  the  sister  want  to  see  you  about?" 
asked  Miss  Preston,  quite  innocently. 

Here  was  the  opportunity,  but  John  utterly 
quailed  and  failed  before  it. 

"  Oh,  nothing  in  particular,"  he  answered,  and 
diverted  the  conversation  to  the  excellence  of  the 
weather  and  the  beauty  of  the  scenery. 

At  last  the  drive  was  nearly  over  —  and  John 
thinking  of  the  sister,  mustered  courage  to  tell  of 
his  conversation  with  her. 

A  wedding  followed  soon. 

John  took  his  bride  to  the  Nicollet  Hotel,  and 
then  rebuilt  the  old  home,  adding  a  new  part  con- 
siderably larger  than  the  old  —  there  he  hoped  to 
live  in  happiness  with  his  bride  and  in  contentment 
with  his  good  and  faithful  mother,  and  well-be- 
loved sister,  Hattie.  The  mother  had  stood  by  him 
and  he  had  stood  by  the  mother.  The  hard  old 
days  were  over  forever  —  all  should  thereafter  be 
smooth  and  sunny  for  the  family. 


103 


CHAPTER  VII 


ENTERS   POLITICS 


BY  1894  John  A.  Johnson  was  well  known  and 
liked  by  all  the  newspaper  men  of  the  ttate. 
This  newspaper  circle  was  the  beginning  of  mV  po- 
litical career,  though  he  did  not  then  know  it.  The 
newspaper  men,  meeting  him  twice  a  year,  at  the 
annual  convention  and  annual  excursion,  began  to 
feel  that  there  was  a  good  deal  in  John  Jol-nson. 
The  Democratic  state  convention  that  year  offered 
him  the  nomination  as  secretary  of  state,  but  he 
declined  the  barren  honor.  But  when  the  Demo- 
crats of  his  home  county  offered  him  the  nomina- 
tion for  state  senator  it  seemed  to  be  worth  the 
while  and  he  accepted.  He  made  a  good,  lively 
canvass  but  was  defeated.  There  is  no  evidence 
that  he  had  any  political  ambition  at  this  time  —  a 
willingness  to  serve  his  people  in  the  legislature 
hardly  being  indicative  of  any  special  devotion  to 
politics.  To  all  appearances  he  thought  a  good 
deal  more  of  editorial  associations  than  of  those 
political.     He  continued  to  be  an  active  member  of 

104 


ENTERS  POLITICS 

the  Editorial  Association,  entering  with  all  his  char- 
acteristic enthusiasm  into  all  its  affairs.  He  was 
well  content  with  his  work,  and  continued  to  put  out 
a  very  creditable  country  paper.  He  felt  that  his 
position  in  the  community  was  an  honorable  and 
responsible  one.  He  conceived  that  the  country  edi- 
tor had  even  more  responsibility  in  his  sphere  than 
the  metropolitan  journalist  in  his.  While  he  was 
governor  he  wrote  for  the  Youth's  Companion  an 
article  on  the  country  newspaper  that  brought  out 
very  fully  his  ideas  of  the  duties  and  responsibili- 
ties of  the  country  editor.  That  article  will  be 
found  in  full  in  the  appendix,  but  these  paragraphs 
are  worth  quoting  here: 

"To  last  long  —  to  last  with  liberty  and  wealth 
—  is  the  greatest  problem  to  be  solved  by  the  mod- 
ern state,  and  the  newspaper  is  and  always  will  be 
in  the  van  of  progress.  That  the  moral  uplift 
everywhere  apparent  has  reached  a  higher  and 
more  general  recognition  away  from  the  great  cen- 
ters of  population  is  a  tribute  to  the  power  of  the 
country  newspaper.  Out  in  the  purer  air,  away 
from  the  strife  and  struggle  of  city  life,  the  people 
have  more  time  and  better  opportunity  to  measure 
the  problems  that  vex  and  fret. 

"  The  American  Union  has  endured,  and  will  en- 
dure so  long  as  liberty  lasts.     Its  institutions  will 

io5 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

grow  and  flourish,  and  manhood  and  womanhood 
will  reach  the  highest  civilization,  because  in  this 
country  there  is  liberty  of  speech  and  action,  and 
every  incentive  to  virtue  and  honor  in  the  path 
our  fathers  blazed.  Good  and  evil,  joy  and  sor- 
row, truth  and  falsehood  will  always  exist,  but  the 
heart  of  the  great  American  public  has  ever  yearned 
for  the  better  and  brighter  way.  The  country  edi- 
tor is  one  of  the  agencies  ever  at  work  pointing  out 
the  stars  that  shine  behind  the  clouds." 

In  1897,  visiting  Milwaukee  with  the  Minnesota 
editors,  Johnson  made  a  speech  that  captivated  all, 
and  made  at  least  one  of  those  who  heard  him  de- 
termine that  in  him  the  Democracy  had  good  ma- 
terial for  a  governor.  In  that  year  Once  A  Year, 
published  by  the  Milwaukee  Press  Club,  printed  an 
excerpt  from  a  personal  letter  written  by  Johnson 
to  the  editor.  The  excerpt  was  preceded  by  an  in- 
troductory paragraph  in  which  the  editor  spoke  of 
"  John  A.  Johnson,  the  editor  of  the  St.  Peter 
Herald,  whose  witty  post-prandial  talk  at  Whitefish 
Bay,  with  its  effervescent  overflow  at  the  Press  Club, 
entitled  him  to  laurels  that  Chauncey  Depew  might 
envy."     The  excerpt  follows: 

"  Permit  me  to  say  in  this  connection  that  the 
Press  Club  of  Milwaukee  has  entwined  its  ivy  about 
my  heart  and  holds  it  secure  in  that  position,  and 

106 


ENTERS  POLITICS 

I  am  constrained  to  say  that  if  the  entertainment 
accorded  the  pilgrim  editors  from  Minnesota  is  an 
index  of  their  chivalry,  generosity  and  hospitality, 
it  is  indeed  fortunate  that  Once  A  Year  is  the 
horn  of  plenty.  The  Minnesota  editors,  sometimes 
styled  the  '  Hello  Bill  Company,'  have  pleasant 
recollections  of  the  Press  Club  and  its  princely  en- 
tertainment. And  I  want  to  say  to  you  (in  a  burst 
of  confidence)  that  nowhere  and  at  no  other  time 
were  the  members  of  that  band  of  strolling  minstrels 
so  royally  received  as  on  the  day  of  their  star  en- 
gagement in  Milwaukee.  We  all  look  back  now 
and  then  to  the  dingy  and  yet  cosy  rooms  which 
you  inhabit  and  think  ever  and  anon  (this  is  not 
new  with  me)  that  yours  must,  indeed,  be  Bohemia. 
We  have  a  colony  of  Bohemians  near  our  own  city, 
and  I  state  frankly  without  wishing  to  reflect  upon 
my  own  neighbors  that  you  even  outdo  the  real 
thing.  We  all  remember  the  handsome  and  genial 
ex-governor  journalist,  with  the  generosity  belong- 
ing to  those  who  have  held  high  office,  distributing 
whole  blocks  of  the  city,  county  and  even  state  to 
those  of  us  who  cared  for  such  dross.  It  occurred 
to  me  that  such  generosity  must  have  been  the  force 
of  habit  to  a  man  who  had  dispensed  all  of  the 
patronage  within  his  gift,  and  that  he  was  assort- 
ing up  a  few  of  the  remaining  assets  of  the  state  for 

107 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

generous  distribution  among  the  great  uncrowned 
kings  and  queens  and  fourspots  of  the  nation.  We 
all  remember  how  we  proudly  declined  the  prof- 
fered gifts  and  felt  that  we  preferred  to  take  away 
the  friendship  of  our  generous  hosts,  believing,  as 
we  did,  that  the  chain  of  title  would  be  less  diffi- 
cult to  establish;  we  remember  and  we  can  never 
forget  the  beauty  of  Milwaukee,  that  charming 
queen  of  all  Northwestern  cities,  with  its  bustle, 
breweries  and  dill  pickles;  its  majestic  buildings,  its 
beautiful  women  and  all  that  goes  to  make  a  city 
great,  but  first  and  last  in  our  minds  are  the  boys 
of  the  Milwaukee  Press  Club. 

"  I  have  passed  the  morning  of  my  life  and  am 
near  the  summit,  where  I  can  look  at  the  land  of  the 
setting  sun.  Like  others  who  have  made  a  semi- 
failure  in  the  world  of  commerce,  I  have  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  wealth  is  not  the  proper  stand- 
ard, and  my  loftiest  ideals  are  not  those  of  Klon- 
dike. To  me  the  measure  of  success  is  the  elevation 
of  the  human  race  —  the  bettering  of  a  worsened 
race  of  people;  the  establishment  of  a  more  perfect 
community  of  interest  and  the  success  of  a  political 
party  that  will  do  as  it  agrees,  and  do  nothing  that 
it  does  not  promise  to  do.  Viewing  life  from  such 
a  view  point,  is  it  peculiar  that  I  should  value  the 
acquaintance  of  people  who  are  able  to  dispense  hos- 

108 


ENTERS  POLITICS 

pitality,  above  those  things  in  life  which  we  can 
not  realize?  Perhaps  this  is  not  clear  to  you,  but 
it  certainly  is  as  clear  to  you  as  to  me,  for  from  a 
sociological  or  biological  point  of  view,  I  am  not 
sure  of  the  premises  myself.  In  any  event  what  I 
wish  to  emphasize  is  that  a  company  of  struggling, 
yet  poor  newspaper  people,  took  a  holiday  from  the 
squalor  of  their  own  environment  and  went  into  the 
glamour  of  a  great  city,  and  owned  it  and  all  it 
contained  for  a  day,  and  at  night  sailed  out  over 
the  blue  waters  to  another  land,  feeling  better  be- 
cause they  left  the  city  behind,  but  taking  away 
what  was  more  eternal  —  friendship  of  men.  The 
memory  of  that  eventful  day  will  dwell  with  us  for 
a  long  time.  The  sun  may  die  out  of  the  sky  for 
the  last  time  as  someone  has  said  before  (although 
that  does  n't  seem  probable  now),  but  until  then  the 
memory  of  Milwaukee  will  linger  as  one  of  the  most 
pleasing  of  all  our  recollections." 

So,  1898  rolled  round,  bringing  with  it  Johnson's 
first  political  success.  Again  the  Democrats  nom- 
inated him  for  state  senator,  and  this  time  he  was 
elected.  Little  happened  during  his  legislative  ca- 
reer, of  two  regular  sessions  and  one  special  session, 
to  stir  him  up  or  bring  out  what  was  in  him.  He  did 
not  think  that  it  was  his  duty  to  distinguish  him- 
self by  bringing  in  a  pile  of  bills  to  die  in  committee. 

109 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

His  attitude  was  rather  that  of  a  counsellor.  He 
was  there,  he  felt,  to  pass  judgment  on  the  various 
measures  that  came  before  the  legislature.  But  he 
made  friends  —  always  he  made  friends.  His  most 
intimate  associates  happened  to  be  men  of  the  op- 
posite political  party,  and  they  little  thought  that 
the  witty,  good-humored,  sociable,  pleasure-loving 
Johnson  was  one  day  to  make  sad  havoc  with  all 
their  plans.  He  attained  some  prominence  for  his 
earnest  advocacy  of  a  measure  increasing  the  tax  on 
the  gross  earnings  of  Minnesota  railways,  but  the 
only  "  sensation  "  in  his  legislative  career  came  in 
the  closing  days  of  the  first  session  —  in  1899.  It 
was  a  sensation  that  did  not  seem  to  have  any  mak- 
ing of  a  political  future  in  it,  either.  John  Lind, 
Democrat,  considered  by  many  to  be  the  ablest  man 
in  Minnesota,  was  governor.  Lind  felt  deeply  on 
the  subject  of  the  annexation  of  the  Philippines. 
With  all  the  strength  of  a  strong  nature  he  was 
against  it.  Powerful  orator  that  he  is,  Governor 
Lind  never  rose  to  such  heights  of  persuasive  elo- 
quence as  in  denouncing  what  he  considered  a 
flagrant  departure  from  American  ideals.  The 
Jackson  Day  banquet  in  1899  will  long  be  memor- 
able in  Minnesota  for  the  Governor's  pathetic  plea 
for  the  Filipinos.  Men  who  never  wept  before  nor 
since,  and  really  did  not  care  a  fig  for  the  Filipinos, 

no 


ENTERS  POLITICS 

wept  and  sobbed  as  the  Governor  pictured  their 
wrongs.  Governor  Lind  caused  to  be  introduced 
into  the  legislature  a  resolution  demanding  the  re- 
call of  the  Thirteenth  Minnesota  Regiment,  then 
serving  in  the  Philippines.  The  resolution  was  sup- 
ported and  opposed  on  strictly  party  lines  except  for 
Senator  Johnson.  The  mild-mannered  senator  from 
St.  Peter  took  the  floor  and  opposed  the  resolution 
in  a  speech  from  which  the  following  paragraph  is 
taken : 

"  Deplorable  as  I  believe  this  war  to  be,  I,  for  one, 
believe  that  we  should  join  together  to  uphold  the 
hands  of  the  government,  regardless  of  the  political 
color  that  may  be  lent  to  the  situation.  I  believe 
the  regiment  should  remain  in  the  Philippines  as 
long  as  the  Stars  and  Stripes  are  liable  to  insult. 
If  that  be  political  treason,  make  the  most  of  it." 

It  took  strong  convictions  and  an  independent 
spirit  to  oppose  the  strong  Governor,  the  first 
Democratic  governor  Minnesota  had  since  Sib- 
ley, but  Johnson  did  it,  and  with  no  little  regret. 
The  incident  serves  to  illustrate  the  political  inde- 
pendence which  always  characterized  him,  though 
he  believed  that  successful  political  work  must  be 
done  within  party  lines.  He  was  at  once  in  dis- 
favor with  strong  party  men,  but  the  incident  did 
not  outlaw  him,  nor  cause  any  rupture  between  him 

in 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

and  Governor  Lind.  Indeed,  the  next  step  that 
Johnson  made  towards  fame  was  in  the  speech  with 
which  he  nominated  Governor  Lind  for  reelection 
in  the  next  political  campaign.  That  nominating 
speech,  caused  him  to  be  much  talked  of  for  gov- 
ernor by  the  Democrats  in  1902.  Some  rather 
obscure  work  was  done  on  his  behalf  without  his 
consent,  and  if  he  had  permitted  it,  a  vigorous  ef- 
fort would  have  been  made  to  nominate  him.  Even 
after  the  convention  was  in  session  and  all  was  mov- 
ing smoothly  toward  the  nomination  of  L.  A.  Ros- 
ing, an  attempt  was  made  to  get  Johnson  to  make 
a  speech  that  would  stampede  the  convention.  D. 
F.  Peebles,  of  St.  Paul,  who  had  heard  the  Governor 
speak  at  Milwaukee  before  the  newspaper  men,  was 
carried  away  with  the  idea  that  Johnson  would  be 
an  irresistible  vote-getter.  But  whether  it  was 
merely  that  Johnson  thought  that  Mr.  Rosing  was 
entitled  to  the  honor,  or  whether  he  felt  that  there 
was  no  chance  to  defeat  Governor  Van  Sant,  the 
Republican  nominee,  then  fresh  with  the  laurels  of 
his  famous  fight  against  the  Northern  Securities 
merger  of  the  Great  Northern  and  Northern  Pa- 
cific railways,  will  never  be  known.  At  any  rate, 
it  was  a  lucky  decision,  for  not  even  Johnson  could 
have  prevailed  that  year  against  Van  Sant.  Little 
got   into  the  metropolitan  papers   this  year  about 

112 


ENTERS  POLITICS 

Johnson  as  a  gubernatorial  possibility,  and  return- 
ing to  St.  Peter  to  be  defeated  in  his  campaign  for 
reelection  to  the  state  senate,  he  was  soon  forgot- 
ten even  by  those  who  had  favored  him,  in  the 
avalanche  of  votes  that  reelected  Van  Sant  gov- 
ernor by  the  greatest  majority  any  governor  of 
Minnesota  had  ever  had  —  a  record  that  was  to 
stand  until  Johnson  himself  eclipsed  it  four  years 
later. 

Democrats  were  not  so  numerous  in  St.  Peter  then 
as  they  might  have  been.  At  a  caucus  to  elect 
delegates  to  a  county  convention  Johnson  found 
himself  and  one  other  person  —  a  man  of  ample 
figure  —  the  component  elements  of  the  caucus. 
They  went  ahead  and  elected  the  delegates.  As 
secretary,  Johnson  wrote  a  report  beginning  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  At  a  large  and  influential  meeting,"  etc. 

The  "  fat  party  "  objected  that  this  was  untrue. 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Johnson ;  "  you  are  certainly 
large,  and  I,  an  editor,  am  influential." 

As  an  editor,  Johnson  was  not  much  given  to  long 
editorials,  and  this  has  been  the  occasion  of  some 
disappointment  to  journalists  and  magazine  writers, 
who  have  burrowed  in  the  files  of  the  St.  Peter 
Herald  to  find  some  evidences  of  the  ability  which 
appeared  later  in  the  Governor's  public  addresses. 

113 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

They  forgot  that  Johnson  was  a  man  in  change,  in 
growth.  He  grew  wonderfully  from  the  time  he 
became  an  editor  until  he  became  governor  of  Min- 
nesota, but  he  grew  even  more  rapidly  after  his 
election.  Environment  meant  more  to  the  develop- 
ment of  a  man  of  Johnson's  type  than  it  would 
have  meant  to  some  others.  His  tendency  was  to 
grow  and  expand  to  all  the  limits  of  the  cir- 
cumstances that  confronted  him,  but  his  lack  of  a 
driving  ambition,  caused  him  not  to  crowd  circum- 
stances. He  had  the  innate  ability  to  respond  to 
almost  any  environment.  If  he  had  been  made  edi- 
tor of  a  metropolitan  newspaper  he  would  have 
produced  profound  and  able  editorials,  but  the  St. 
Peter  opportunity  did  not  seem  to  call  for  them,  and 
Johnson  did  not  drive  himself  to  produce  them. 
Yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  what  he  wrote 
was  of  excellent  quality,  considering  the  circum' 
stances  and  the  demands  upon  him.  Indeed,  they 
are  quite  worthy  of  reproduction  here;  they  are 
important,  too,  as  showing  the  Johnson  attitude 
toward  the  world  which  was  maintained  to  the  end  : 

ST.  PETER  HERALD  EDITORIALS. 

What  is  a  cure  for  gossip?  Simply  culture. 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  gossip  that  has  no  malig- 
nity in  it.     Good-natured  people  talk  about  their 

114 


ENTERS  POLITICS 

neighbors  because,  and  only  because,  they  have  noth- 
ing else  to  talk  about.  Gossip  is  always  a  personal 
confession,  either  of  malice  or  imbecility,  and  the 
young  should  not  only  shun  it,  but  by  the  most  thor- 
ough culture  relieve  themselves  from  all  tempta- 
tions to  indulge  in  it.  It  is  low,  frivolous  and  too 
often  a  dirty  business.  There  are  country  neigh- 
borhoods in  which  it  rages  like  a  pest.  Churches 
are  split  in  pieces  by  it.  Neighbors  make  enemies 
by  it  for  life.  In  many  persons  it  degenerates  into 
a  chronic  disease  which  is  practically  incurable. 


One  who  circulates  much  among  people,  with  an 
attentive  ear  to  expression  of  opinion  in  political 
matters  cannot  fail  to  notice  that  party  ties  grow 
weaker  every  year,  and  that  men's  votes  are  more 
and  more  influenced  by  their  preference  for  particu- 
lar men  or  measures.  Party  managers  cannot  af- 
ford to  overlook  this  fact.  The  party  that  puts  up 
the  best  man,  and  champions  the  best  public  meas- 
ures most  fearlessly,  will  win.  The  people  are  tired 
of  talk;  they  want  business. 


It  ought  to  be  the  aim  of  every  father  to  create 
in  the  soul  of  his  children  reverence  for  the  parent. 

115 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

To  get  good  results  from  a  boy  he  must  be  treated 
as  though  he  were  something  more  than  a  fungus 
growth,  a  wart,  as  it  were,  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth.  He  must  have  enough  of  recreation  and 
pleasure  to  keep  the  vinegar  out  of  his  nature,  and 
no  man  has  the  right  to  deny  his  children  that. 
.  .  .  Don't  be  cross,  crabbed  and  crusty.  Open 
up  the  moss-covered  chambers  of  your  soul  and  let 
in  a  little  of  the  sunlight  of  human  kindness,  and 
a  year  after  take  an  inventory  of  the  acts  that  you 
are  proud  of  and  see  if  they  have  not  perceptibly 
increased. 


We  have  upon  one  or  two  occasions  been  criticised 
for  saying  a  kind  word  about  some  public  man  of 
opposite  political  faith.  To  those  who  may  silently 
indulge  in  any  such  thought,  we  would  say  that 
we  hope  the  day  will  never  arrive  when  we  shall  be- 
come so  narrow  as  to  fail  to  recognize  merit  or  pay 
tribute  to  it.  Politics  and  religion  are  much  the 
same.  Every  man  has  a  right  to  his  opinion  and 
good  and  true  men  will  be  found  in  every  political 
party  as  in  every  church,  and  we  delight  to  see  the 
advancement  of  such  men  to  office,  no  matter  what 
their  political  faith  may  be.  Personally  we  hold 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  Democratic  Party  and  hope  foi 

116 


ENTERS  POLITICS 

the  triumph  of  those  principles.  But  love  for  that 
does  not  create  hate  for  good  men  who  have  em- 
braced a  different  creed.  We  hope  at  all  times  to 
be  governed  by  fairness,  and  our  fairness  will  be 
shown  to  an  adversary  as  readily  as  to  a  friend. 
It  would  be  baseness  to  act  differently  —  in  our 
opinion. 


Emerson  once  said  in  one  of  his  happy  talks  to 
the  people :  "  Men  who  isolate  themselves  from 
society  and  have  no  near  and  dear  family  ties  are 
the  most  uncomfortable  human  beings  in  existence." 
Byron  truly  said :  "  Happiness  was  born  a  twin." 
But  the  phrase,  though  pretty  and  poetic,  does  not 
go  far  enough.  We  are  gregarious  and  not  in- 
tended to  march  through  life  in  either  single  or 
double  file.  The  man  who  cares  for  nobody  and 
for  whom  nobody  cares  has  nothing  to  live  for  that 
will  pay  for  keeping  the  soul  and  body  together. 
You  must  have  a  heap  of  embers  to  have  a  glowing 
fire.  Scatter  them  apart  and  they  will  become  dim 
and  cold.  So  to  have  a  brisk,  vigorous  life  you 
must  have  a  group  of  lives  to  keep  each  other  warm, 
as  it  were,  to  afford  mutual  encouragement  and  con- 
fidence and  support.  If  you  wish  to  live  the  life  of 
a  man  and  not  a  fungus,  be  social,  be  brotherly,  be 

117 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

charitable,  be  sympathetic,  and  labor  earnestly  for 
the  good  of  your  kind.  Your  little  acts  of  kind- 
ness may  often  be  misconstrued  by  unworthy  per- 
sons, but  even  though  others  do  not  understand  you, 
you  will  understand  and  be  satisfied  with  yourself. 
Evil-minded  gossip,  ever  on  the  alert  for  food  to 
work  upon,  will  assail  you  at  every  opportunity,  yet 
a  self -consciousness  of  right  presents  an  armor  im- 
penetrable to  the  scorpion  tooth  of  slander,  and  you 
may  smile  upon  its  vain  wrath  as  you  move  along 
the  even  tenor  of  your  way. 


118 


CHAPTER  VIII 

FIRST  GUBERNATORIAL  CAMPAIGN 

BEATEN  for  reelection  to  the  state  senate  in 
1902,  Johnson  might  reasonably  have  con- 
cluded that  his  political  career  was  over.  Yet  it  is  a 
curious  fact  that  that  defeat  made  possible  his  later 
triumphs.  For  had  he  been  elected  to  the  senate  in 
1904,  he  would  not  have  been,  under  the  Minnesota 
law,  eligible  for  the  governorship  during  his  term  of 
office  as  senator,  which  would  have  kept  him  from 
accepting  the  Democratic  nomination  for  governor 
in  1904.  On  top  of  this  the  Democratic  Party  was 
badly  disorganized  in  Minnesota  at  the  beginning 
of  the  year.  The  radicals  and  conservatives  had 
had  a  bitter  contest  over  delegates  to  the  national 
convention  at  St.  Louis,  which  ended  in  the  delega- 
tion being  half  for  Parker  and  half  for  Hearst. 
Besides,  the  overwhelming  defeat  of  Mr.  Rosing 
two  years  before  had  taken  the  life  out  of  the  party. 
To  add  to  the  trouble  there  had  been  a  conference 
of  Democratic  leaders  limited  to  those  who  were 
for  Parker,  which  made  the  Hearst  faction  angry. 

119 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

In  an  endeavor  to  close  the  breach  between  the  fac- 
tions Air.  Frank  A.  Day  and  others  finally  got  to- 
gether in  St.  Paul  some  twenty  men  representing 
both  parties  to  canvass  the  state  situation,  and  try  to 
agree  on  a  candidate  for  governor.  Before  this 
Johnson  had  been  in  consultation  with  different 
party  leaders,  but  evinced  little  interest  in  the  sug- 
gestion that  he  be  a  candidate,  and  the  truth  is  that 
they  were  not  particularly  impressed  with  him.  Mr. 
Day,  however,  was  firmly  convinced  that  Johnson 
would  be  the  ideal  candidate.  He  was  of  Swedish 
descent,  he  was  popular  with  the  country  editors, 
and  he  was  personally  on  friendly  terms  with  the  Re- 
publican senators  with  whom  he  had  served,  many 
of  whom  were  dissatisfied  with  the  outcome  of  the 
Republican  state  convention.  But  to  most  of  the 
other  leaders  Johnson's  brief  political  career,  the 
fact  that  he  was  utterly  unknown  to  the  people  of 
the  state  and  was  not  in  a  position  to  make  a  con- 
tribution to  the  campaign  fund  seemed  to  be  suffi- 
cient ground  for  lack  of  any  enthusiasm  for  him. 
However,  nobody  else  was  put  forward  at  the  con- 
ference of  the  factions,  and  when  at  last  a  vote  was 
taken  to  ascertain  the  sentiment,  all  present  except 
one,  who  refrained  from  voting,  cast  their  ballots 
for  Johnson. 

Mr.    Day's    advocacy   of   the   comparatively   ob- 

I20 


FIRST  GUBERNATORIAL  CAMPAIGN 

scure  country  editor  naturally  carried  a  good  deal 
of  weight  with  the  conferees.  He  (who  had  been  a 
fellow  editor,  a  one-time  president  of  the  State  Edi- 
torial Association,  twelve  years  a  state  senator,  pres- 
ident of  the  senate  and  one  of  the  managers  of  the 
last  preceding  state  campaign)  was  conceded  to  be 
in  a  position  to  know  what  he  was  doing  in  so 
strongly  recommending  Johnson. 

While  the  conference  was  in  progress  Day  re- 
ceived a  telegram  from  Johnson,  at  St.  Peter,  stat- 
ing that  he  had  written  a  dispatch  to  the  St.  Paul 
Globe  which  would  make  it  impossible  for  him  to 
be  considered  for  the  nomination.  Mr.  Day  hur- 
ried to  the  long  distance  telephone,  got  Johnson 
and  persuaded  him  to  withhold  the  dispatch  until 
they  had  had  a  personal  interview.  When  the  vote 
was  taken  Mr.  Day  had  only  about  fifteen  minutes 
to  catch  the  train  for  St.  Peter.  It  was  a  hot  sum- 
mer day,  a  storm  was  impending,  Mr.  Day  was 
tired,  and  the  gloom  of  the  weather  seemed  to  com- 
bine with  the  apathy  of  the  meeting  and  his  own 
physical  condition  to  discourage  him  from  his  er- 
rand. At  St.  Peter,  Johnson,  by  prearrangement, 
met  Day  at  the  rear  of  the  train,  unnoticed,  and 
the  two  hastened  to  the  Johnson  home.  The  storm 
had  broken  with  cyclonic  fury,  Johnson  was  indif- 
ferent, Day  was  dejected,  and  altogether  it  did  not 

121 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

seem  as  if  the  time  were  propitious  for  the  birth  of 
an  enterprise.  However,  the  two  sat  down  on  the 
porch  of  the  Johnson  home  to  discuss  the  situation. 
After  some  commonplaces  the  momentous  subject 
was  approached. 

"  We  are  going  to  talk  politics,  John  and  the  gov- 
ernorship, you  know,"  said  Mr.  Day  to  Mrs.  John- 
son, "  and  I  don't  suppose  you  will  care  to  sit  up 
with  us." 

"If  it  concerns  John,  it  concerns  me,"  answered 
Mrs.  Johnson,  "  and  I  surely  want  to  hear  it  all." 

So  the  three  sat  there  on  the  porch  in  the  dark, 
and  talked  and  figured  and  conjectured  hour  after 
hour.  The  state  was  reviewed  by  counties  and  con- 
gressional districts,  the  disaffection  in  the  Repub- 
lican camp  was  carefully  weighed,  and  the  conclusion 
reached  that  Johnson  had  a  chance  to  win,  and  that 
even  if  he  lost  he  would  be  a  net  gainer  by  taking 
the  nomination.  Johnson  stipulated  that  he  should 
not  be  called  on  for  any  campaign  contribution,  and 
that  the  nomination  should  come  to  him  without 
effort  on  his  part.  He  also  stipulated  that  Mr.  Day 
should  take  charge  of  the  campaign.  Johnson 
wanted  to  know  where  the  money  was  coming  from. 
Mr.  Day  did  not  know,  beyond  the  fact  that  he  had 
$550  then  promised  and  his  confidence  that  some- 
how he  would  be  able  to  get  enough  money  to  make 

122 


FIRST  GUBERNATORIAL  CAMPAIGN 

some  sort  of  a  campaign.  It  was  2  o'clock  in  the 
morning  when  the  editor  decided  to  accept  the  nom- 
ination if  it  were  offered  to  him,  and  then  he  and 
his  wife  walked  down  to  the  train  with  Mr.  Day, 
little  knowing  that  they  had  made  a  decision  that 
would  revolutionize  the  politics  of  Minnesota  for 
six  years  and  give  a  tremendous  impetus  to  political 
independence  throughout  the  West. 

The  convention  was  held  at  Minneapolis,  August 
30,  1904.  Mr.  W.  S.  Hammond,  of  St.  James,  now 
member  of  Congress  from  the  Second  Minnesota 
district,  nominated  Johnson  and  he  was  enthusi- 
astically acclaimed  as  the  Democratic  candidate  for 
governor  of  Minnesota.  Still  there  was  little  con- 
fidence in  the  outcome,  and  there  was  little  disposi- 
tion to  proclaim  Johnson  as  a  winner.  In  fact, 
what  hope  there  was  at  first  was  of  negative  nature. 
It  was  based  chiefly  on  the  dissensions  then  exist- 
ing in  the  Republican  Party.  Mr.  R.  C.  Dunn, 
also  a  country  editor  and  formerly  state  auditor, 
had  been  nominated  for  governor  by  the  Repub- 
licans after  a  bitter  contest  which  left  the  friends 
of  the  defeated  candidate,  Judge  Loren  W.  Collins, 
sore  and  sulky.  The  Democrats  hoped  that  John- 
son would  be  acceptable  to  these  dissatisfied  Repub- 
licans, who  were  willing  to  discipline  their  party  if 
they  could  do  so  without  inflicting  on  the  state  a 

123 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

man  not  competent  for  the  governorship.  The  cam- 
paign had  not  gone  very  far,  however,  before  it  ap- 
peared that  Mr.  Dunn,  a  man  of  rugged  strength 
and  great  personal  popularity,  would  draw  strongly 
on  the  normal  Democratic  vote,  and  that  in  order  to 
win,  the  Democratic  nominee  must  develop  a  posi- 
tive power  that  would  bring  people  to  him  regard- 
less of  political  grievances.  Except  those  very  few 
who  knew  Johnson's  reserve  ability,  and  marvelous 
capacity  for  winning  men,  the  Democratic  leaders 
were  not  aware  that  they  had  such  a  man  in  their 
nominee. 

Mr.  Day,  in  compliance  with  the  mandate  of  the 
candidate,  was  elected  chairman  of  the  state  cen- 
tral committee.  He  was  fortunate  in  having  as 
chairman  of  the  executive  committee  Mr.  L.  A.  Ros- 
ing. Mr.  Rosing  had  been  the  Democratic  nom- 
inee for  governor  in  the  preceding  campaign,  but 
had  the  misfortune  to  be  opposed  to  Governor  S. 
R.  Van  Sant,  whose  stand  in  opposition  to  the 
Northern  Securities  merger  had  endowed  him  with 
irresistible  popularity  in  a  state  wherein  were  the 
headquarters  of  the  two  great  railway  systems  that 
were  to  be  merged.  As  secretary  to  former  Gov- 
ernor Lind,  and  as  manager  of  several  state  cam- 
paigns, Mr.  Rosing  brought  to  the  Johnson  cam- 
paign an  invaluable  fund  of  political  experience  and 

124 


FIRST  GUBERNATORIAL  CAMPAIGN 

knowledge,  of  which,  with  his  admittedly  great  abil- 
ity, he  made  the  best  possible  use. 

Johnson  started  out  for  a  whirlwind  campaign. 
The  Democratic  committee  almost  worked  him  to 
death.  No  such  strenuous  campaign  of  speaking 
had  ever  been  undertaken  by  a  candidate  for  gov- 
ernor in  Minnesota.  In  42  days  the  new  leader 
made  103  speeches  and  penetrated  all  but  ten  of  the 
eighty-four  counties  of  the  state.  Still  weak,  from 
a  third  operation  for  appendicitis,  Johnson  showed 
a  surprising  reserve  of  physical  strength,  corre- 
sponding to  his  mental  energy.  Often,  enduring 
great  agony,  he  went  without  meals,  rode  on  freight 
trains,  drove  across  country,  sat  up  all  night,  yet 
spoke  with  vigor  and  vivacity  at  every  engage- 
ment. In  one  day  he  drove  42  miles,  traveled 
twelve  by  freight  train,  spoke  three  times  for  a 
total  of  five-and-a-half  hours  —  and  that  with  only 
four  hours  of  sleep  and  two  hasty  meals. 

Reports  of  a  slightly  encouraging  nature  began 
to  come  into  headquarters.  Johnson's  first  speeches 
were  not  especially  remarkable  or  stirring.  But  the 
game  began  to  appeal  to  him.  It  was  a  big  game, 
and  winning  it  would  make  a  humble  country  editor 
governor  of  the  state.  His  ambition  was  aroused, 
the  latent  fighting  spirit  of  the  Berserkers  at  last 
came  to  the  top.     Then  he  began  to  make  speeches 

125 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

that  told.  He  let  himself  go,  but  refrained  from 
attacks  on  his  opponent.  The  Johnson  of  the  plat- 
form became  the  Johnson  that  his  intimates  knew. 
He  unleashed  his  enthusiasms  and  his  sentiments,  he 
gave  play  to  his  feelings,  he  spoke  with  ardor  and 
conviction,  and  he  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would 
win.  He  surprised  his  home  people  by  gravely  as- 
suring them  that  he  would  be  elected  governor. 
They  saw  he  meant  it,  but  they  thought  his  head  was 
turned. 

"  What !  John  Johnson  do  what  has  been  done 
but  once  in  forty-four  years  —  win  the  governor- 
ship of  Minnesota  for  the  Democratic  Party!  Im- 
possible !  " 

But  Johnson  knew.  He  believed  himself  cool 
enough,  for  all  the  heat  of  the  fray,  to  see  that  his 
audiences  in  size  and  enthusiasm  were  without  par- 
allel in  the  history  of  the  party  in  the  state.  The 
calculating  politicians  began  to  notice  it,  too.  Lead- 
ers who  had  been  apathetic  began  to  show  interest 
and  come  to  headquarters.  Campaign  funds  began 
to  come  in,  and  Mr.  Day,  who  had  mortgaged  every- 
thing he  had  to  start  the  fight,  began  to  see  some 
hope  of  reimbursement. 

Then  the  gods  of  chance  began  to  fight  on  John- 
son's side.  Many  of  the  traveling  men  of  the  state 
had  made  Johnson's  acquaintance  in  his  old  clerking 

126 


FIRST  GUBERNATORIAL  CAMPAIGN 

days,  and  had  kept  in  touch  with  him  after  he  be- 
came editor.  The  prospect  of  elevating  the  humble 
village  boy  of  a  few  years  back  to  the  governorship 
appealed  to  them.  They  became  missionaries  for 
Johnson  to  the  whole  traveling  fraternity  of  the 
state;  and  then  with  their  converts,  ten  thousand 
strong,  they  moved  upon  every  opposition  outpost 
in  the  state.  The  traveling  men  worked  for  their 
houses  for  pay  and  for  Johnson  for  love,  and  the 
unpaid  service  was  better  than  the  paid.  The  Re- 
publican candidate  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  re- 
ported as  saying  something  that  reflected  on  the 
traveling  men  as  a  class.  That  made  them  prac- 
tically solid  for  Johnson.  Every  train  became  a 
moving  Johnson  meeting,  every  hotel  a  Johnson 
headquarters,  every  store  a  Johnson  working 
ground. 

Not  content  with  that,  the  gods  of  chance  in- 
spired someone  to  put  out  in  the  form  of  affidavits 
the  wretched  story  of  Johnson's  father.  Johnson 
had  dreaded  the  exploitation  of  that  story  from 
the  start.  When  it  came  he  was  for  the  moment 
overwhelmed.  His  first  impulse  was  to  write  a 
letter  retiring  from  the  campaign.  Day  sent  him  a 
long  telegram  from  St.  Paul  —  Johnson  was  then 
at  St.  Peter  —  assuring  him  that  the  affidavits  would 
not  cost  him  a  single  friend  and  that  the  reaction 

127 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

would  turn  it  into  the  winning  episode  of  the  cam- 
paign. 

"  What  have  you  to  say  ?  "  the  newspaper  men 
clamored  at  Johnson. 

"  Nothing,"  he  replied,  sadly.     "  It  is  true." 

Rallying  from  his  despondency  Johnson  went  to 
St.  James  the  night  of  the  day  the  attack  was 
launched,  and  there  made  the  greatest  speech  of  the 
campaign  up  to  that  time.  His  audience  was  wildly 
enthusiastic.  The  next  day  at  Sherburn,  now  thor- 
oughly aroused,  he  made  an  even  greater  speech. 

The  half-truth  of  the  affidavits  was  answered 
with  the  whole  truth  —  the  whole  sad  story  of  mis- 
ery and  poverty,  a  father's  disgrace,  a  mother's 
woe,  a  son's  humiliation  and  sacrifice  was  told.  It 
was  terrible  thus  to  have  laid  bare  to  the  world  the 
family  skeleton.  But  there  was  no  help  for  it. 
Johnson  himself  ignored  the  whole  affair,  but  his 
friends  published  the  truth,  every  sad,  hard  word  of 
it.  The  attack  was  hurled  back  in  defeat.  Mothers 
wept  as  they  read  the  story  of  Johnson's  life,  men 
hastened  to  tender  their  support  to  the  man  who 
had  fought  all  his  life  against  the  consequences  of 
his  father's  weakness  and  now  had  to  fight  the 
story  of  that  weakness. 

Here  was  where  the  fireside  touched  politics,  and 
the  home   felt  itself  to  have  something  at  stake. 

128 


FIRST  GUBERNATORIAL  CAMPAIGN 

The  women  do  not  vote  in  Minnesota,  but  that  year 
thousands  of  them  directed  how  the  vote  should  be 
cast.  Instead  of  being  an  object  of  scorn  and  con- 
tempt Johnson  became  the  popular  hero.  Men  who 
had  been  lukewarm  or  indifferent  rallied  to  his 
cause.  It  was  plain  that  nothing  but  the  oressure 
of  national  political  party  allegiance  could  keep  him 
from  the  governorship. 

"  We  can  give  Roosevelt  70,000  majority  in  the 
state  and  still  elect  Johnson,"  said  the  Democratic 
chieftains. 

When  the  votes  were  counted  the  Roosevelt  ma- 
jority ran  to  163,000!  It  seemed  as  if  no  individ- 
ual popularity  or  strength  could  overcome  the  ter- 
rific Roosevelt  momentum.  But  as  county  after 
county  came  in  with  Johnson  running  ahead,  there 
began  to  be  hope  of  the  impossible.  And  when  the 
official  count  was  made  it  was  found  that  John  A. 
Johnson  had  carried  the  state  by  more  than  7,000 
votes. 

The  son  of  the  broken  exile,  the  son  of  the  wash- 
erwoman, was  governor  of  Minnesota! 


129 


CHAPTER  IX 

GOVERNOR SUBSEQUENT    CAMPAIGNS 

AS  the  telegraph  ticked  off  the  figures  that  were 
making  him  governor,  John  A.  Johnson 
seemed  the  least  concerned  of  all  those  who  waited 
at  headquarters  that  November  night  in  1904.  He 
was  philosophically  prepared  for  defeat,  but  he  be- 
lieved he  would  be  elected.  When  his  election  wa? 
assured  he  was  as  delighted  as  a  boy  with  a  new  ball, 
but  his  joy  was  tinged  with  sympathy  for  his  de- 
feated opponent.  The  cruel  way  of  the  world  had 
made  another  man's  misfortune  his  fortune.  He 
took  no  credit  to  himself  for  the  victory.  He  was, 
he  felt,  simply  lifted  to  the  crest  of  the  wave  by 
forces  over  which  he  had  no  control. 

Then  came  telegrams  and  letters  of  congratula- 
tion and  callers  innumerable.  The  editor  began  to 
taste  the  delights  of  greatness.  Now  comes  the 
joyous  celebration  at  St.  Peter,  to  which  travel  the 
faithful  Democrats  and  Republican  allies  from  all 
parts  of  the  state  —  many  out  of  pure  gladness., 
some  with  a  calculating  eye  to  the  spoils  of  victory 

130 


SUBSEQUENT  CAMPAIGNS 

When  the  governor-eleet  spoke  that  night  to  the 
exulting  crowd,  none  within  the  range  of  his  voice 
was  so  happy  as  Mrs.  Caroline  Johnson,  the  mother, 
now  bent  and  crippled  with  rheumatism,  who 
watched  and  listened  from  a  window  overlooking 
the  street.  She  must,  indeed,  have  felt  that  her  life 
had  been  well-rewarded,  and  that  she,  the  orphan 
immigrant  girl  from  old  Sweden,  had  done  her 
part  in  giving  to  Minnesota  a  governor.  As  she 
thought  of  her  own  obscurity  and  heartbreaks  con- 
trasted with  her  son's  distinction  she  might  well 
have  said  with  the  poet : 

"  No   marshalling  troops,   no   bivouac   song, 

No  banners  to  gleam  and  wave, 
And  oh !  those  battles,  they  last  so  long, 

From  babyhood  to  the  grave." 

Yet  this  mother,  fit  to  be  a  mother  of  warriors, 
had  left  her  son's  home  when  prosperity  and  ease 
had  come,  and  he  had  planned  for  her  last  years 
happiness  and  contentment,  because  she  must  have  a 
home  of  her  own.  As  always  in  this  life  there  is 
something  lacking  in  the  sweetest  moments  so  now 
to  the  fortunate  son  and  the  old  mother,  those  two 
who  had  loyally  and  bravely  struggled  and  suffered 
together,  came  the  black  thought  that  after  all  fate 
had  cheated  them.     The  son  had  gained  a  state  and 

131 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

in  some  sort  lost  a  mother ;  the  mother,  proud  of  her 
son,  felt  that  she  had  lost  him. 

Johnson  was  exhausted  from  the  toils  of  the  cam- 
paign, and  in  no  condition  to  assume  the  responsi- 
bilities of  governor-elect.  So  he  went  to  the  South 
for  a  rest.  When  he  returned  he  was  ready  for 
work.  Offices  were  established  at  the  Nicollet  Ho- 
tel in  St.  Peter,  which  became  the  Mecca  of  those 
who  would  claim  their  reward. 

When  the  time  came  for  him  to  go  to  St.  Paul, 
the  Governor  succeeded  in  persuading  his  mother 
and  sister  to  occupy  the  new  home  he  had  built. 
And  there  it  was  that  "  mother  "  died  more  than  two 
years  later,  and  thence  with  the  stalwart  governor- 
son  as  chief  mourner  her  body  was  borne  to  Green- 
hill  cemetery,  there  at  last  to  lie  in  peace.  Now  the 
old  St.  Peter  days  are  gone  forever.  The  Governor 
does  not  know  it,  but  never  will  St.  Peter  be  his 
home  again,  until  he,  too,  stricken  down  in  his 
prime,  is  brought  by  a  mournful  multitude  to  share 
the  peace  of  the  grave  with  the  mother. 

The  day  comes  when  the  editor  is  to  be  trans- 
formed into  governor.  "  Good-bye,  Henry,"  he 
said  to  his  newspaper  partner,  Henry  Essler,  as  he 
boarded  the  train.  "I'll  be  back  in  two  years. 
Try  to  keep  the  subscribers  in  line,  and  don't  let  the 

132 


SUBSEQUENT  CAMPAIGNS 

ads  get  away  from  you.  Keep  the  job  work  going. 
So  long!" 

So,  now  to  the  great  white  marble  capitol  on  the 
hill  in  St.  Paul  comes  John  Johnson,  the  first  gov- 
ernor to  be  inaugurated  into  office  within  its  walls, 
this  being  done  January  4,  1905. 

What  he  did  in  that  seat  of  authority  is  left  for 
another  chapter.  It  need  be  said  here,  only  that  he 
justified  the  fondest  hopes  of  the  people  who  elected 
him  and  lived  well  up  to  the  warmly  applauded  con- 
cluding words  of  his  first  message  to  the  legislature : 

"  We  are  assembled  to-day  in  the  new  capitol  of 
the  state.  This  splendid  edifice  is  a  monument  to 
the  energy,  prosperity  and  culture  of  our  people. 
Whatever  opposition  may  have  existed  to  its  erection 
in  the  past,  the  people  are  now  proud  that  its  gleam- 
ing dome  overlooks  the  capital  city  of  our  beloved 
state.  The  building  is  the  property  of  the  state,  and 
was  provided  as  a  place  in  which  should  be  trans- 
acted the  business  of  the  people.  As  their  servants, 
you  and  I  are  commissioned  to  perform  the  duties 
of  our  several  offices  in  their  interest.  We  should 
here  dedicate  ourselves  to  that  service,  pledging  our 
zeal,  our  fidelity  and  our  honest  purpose  in  an  en- 
deavor to  do  our  duty  to  the  people  who  have  re- 
posed in  us  their  confidence  and  their  trust.     We 

133 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

should  build  not  for  to-day  alone,  but  that  future 
generations  may  reap  the  reward  of  honest,  patriotic 
effort.  If  there  must  be  sacrifice,  let  it  not  be  at 
the  expense  of  the  state.  If  we  must  regard  polit- 
ical considerations  let  us  also  remember  that  polit- 
ical parties  are  but  the  vehicles  of  good  government, 
and  that  you  and  I  will  best  serve  but  one  master 
and  that  master  the  sovereign  people  of  the  state  of 
Minnesota." 

Governor  Johnson's  infinite  capacity  for  growth 
and  adaptation  served  him  well.  As  type-metal, 
cooling,  expands  to  fill  every  recess  of  the  mold,  so 
the  plastic  native  ability  of  the  new  governor  dem- 
onstrated itself  at  every  opportunity.  He  soon  saw 
the  difference  in  methods  that  must  be  pursued  by  a 
governor  as  contrasted  with  those  of  a  country 
editor,  and  he  at  once  adopted  them  without  in  any 
way  changing  his  essential  self.  The  people  of 
Minnesota  were  delighted  with  their  new  governor. 
They  thought  him  the  ideal  executive.  Tactful, 
courteous,  debonair,  natural  and  democratic,  win- 
ning in  face  and  manner,  well  groomed,  ready  with 
the  right  word  at  the  right  time,  yet  withal  firm, 
decisive,  manly,  he  was  simply  irresistible. 

Again  named  for  governor  by  the  Democratic 
state  convention  at  Minneapolis,  September  4,  1906 
—  this  time  not  doubtingly  and  with  misgivings,  but 

134 


SUBSEQUENT  CAMPAIGNS 

with  proud  confidence,  he  entered  vigorously  on  his 
second  campaign,  with  his  friends  taking  up  the 
slogan,  "  One  good  term  deserves  another."  While 
the  event  showed  that  the  Republican  candidate,  Al- 
bert L.  Cole,  never  had  the  remotest  chance  of  being 
elected,  there  were  to  the  necessarily  imperfect 
judgment  of  the  men  in  the  heat  of  the  conflict  some 
reasons  for  apprehension.  Powerful  Republican 
papers  which  had  supported  Johnson  in  the  first 
campaign,  now  deemed  their  party  sufficiently  chas- 
tised and  returned  to  the  fold.  While  there  was  not 
much  enthusiasm  for  Mr.  Cole,  there  was  no  open 
discord  in  the  party  behind  him  —  no  such  opening 
for  the  attack  of  the  opposition  as  the  internal  dis- 
sensions of  1904  afforded.  So  the  Democratic 
management  took  nothing  for  granted  and  made  a 
vigorous  campaign. 

Governor  Johnson's  "  stumping "  in  this  cam- 
paign eclipsed  his  previous  record.  In  seven  weeks 
he  made  119  speeches  in  78  counties.  If  there  be 
pleasure  in  authority  and  eminence,  this  campaign 
must  have  been  one  of  the  most  enjoyable  periods 
in  Governor  Johnson's  life.  He  was  now  the  popu- 
lar hero,  and  added  to  his  popularity  was  the  pres- 
tige of  a  great  office.  Immense  crowds  gathered  to 
hear  all  his  speeches,  and  he  could  not  but  feel  that 
he  was  not  only  admired  but  loved  by  the  cheering 

135 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

thousands  who  hung  on  his  every  word.  The 
sweets  of  popularity  were  still  new  enough  to  him 
to  leave  his  taste  uncloyed.  When  the  votes  were 
counted,  there  was  a  wonderful  demonstration  of 
Governor  Johnson's  popularity  when  unaffected  by 
the  influence  of  a  Roosevelt  presidential  campaign. 
He  had  168,480  votes  against  96,162  for  his  chief 
opponent,  a  plurality  of  72,318  —  the  largest  ever 
given  to  a  candidate  for  governor  in  Minnesota. 

The  second  term  as  governor  saw  the  develop- 
ment of  Governor  Johnson  into  a  national  figure 
and  a  presidential  possibility.  The  history  of  the 
second  administration  and  the  presidential  campaign 
are  reserved  for  other  chapters.  It  is  enough  to  say 
that  the  Governor  continued  to  advance  in  popular 
esteem,  and  grow  inwardly  as  he  grew  in  reputation. 
No  situation  was  too  difficult  for  him  to  manage, 
and  every  seeming  cul-de-sac  in  his  career  proved  to 
have  an  easy  exit. 

Now  we  come  to  the  third  campaign  for  the  gov- 
ernorship —  in  some  respects  the  most  remarkable 
of  all.  By  this  time  the  Republican  Party  was 
thoroughly  united,  and  it  named  as  its  candidate  for 
governor,  Jacob  F.  Jacobson,  a  man  with  a  legisla- 
tive record  bristling  with  popular  achievements,  a 
man  of  the  people,  nominated  amidst  great  enthu- 
siasm   in    a    convention    held    at    St.    Paul    while 

136 


SUBSEQUENT  CAMPAIGNS 

Governor  Johnson's  presidential  aspirations  were 
receiving  a  severe  rebuff  at  Denver.  The  impor- 
tance of  little  things  in  politics  is  well  illustrated  by 
the  unfortunate  remark  which  the  gentleman  who 
nominated  Mr.  Jacobson  before  the  convention 
made  in  putting  forward  the  candidate. 

"  The  worst  thing  that  has  ever  been  said  against 
him,"  said  the  orator,  "  is  that  he  eats  pie  with  a 
knife." 

Now  it  has  never  been  proved  that  Mr.  Jacobson 
was  guilty  of  this  social  error,  and  doubtless  the 
orator  thought  the  charge  would  endear  him  to  the 
multitude  who  are  traditionally  supposed  to  favor 
the  knife  as  against  the  fork.  But  the  remark  im- 
mediately raised  a  question  in  the  public  mind  as  to 
the  candidate's  social  fitness  for  the  governorship  as 
contrasted  with  that  of  Governor  Johnson. 

However,  the  Democrats  were  at  sea.  Governor 
Johnson  had  announced  that  whatever  happened  at 
Denver  he  would  not  again  be  a  candidate  for  gov- 
ernor. In  making  this  announcement  he  had  con- 
sulted his  personal  inclinations.  He  longed  to  get 
back  to  the  serenity  and  comfort  of  private  life. 
With  a  national  reputation  as  a  speaker,  lucrative 
speaking  engagements  were  crowding  in  upon  him. 
He  had  often  said  that  all  a  man  should  want  in  the 
way  of  income  was  $5,000  a  year  assured.     He  now 

137 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

saw  an  opportunity  to  amass  a  fortune  that  would 
yield  that  income.  He  had  long  looked  forward  to 
a  tour  of  Europe.  He  had  been  highly  honored 
by  his  people.  There  was  little  to  be  gained, 
he  thought,  by  another  term,  and  there  was  a  pos- 
sibility of  defeat.  The  ideas  of  some  of  the  Gov- 
ernor's political  advisers  ran  with  his  own  tendencies 
and  desires.  They  thought  it  wiser  to  maintain  the 
prestige  of  two  successive  victories  than  to  risk  de- 
feat in  striving  for  the  third  —  looking  forward  to 
the  national  campaign  of  1912.  Moreover,  a  man 
must  always  reckon  with  his  wife.  Mrs.  Johnson 
was  emphatically  opposed  to  another  campaign. 
She  had  no  ambitions  for  her  husband's  political  fu- 
ture. Her  inclinations,  like  his,  made  for  the  quiet 
enjoyment  of  private  life.  So,  the  Governor,  re- 
sisting the  appeals  of  his  official  family,  the  pressure 
of  a  party  foreseeing  certain  defeat  witnout  him, 
genuine  popular  appeal,  seemingly  burned  his 
bridges  behind  him  by  announcing  that  he  could  not 
accept  a  third  nomination  without  stultifying  him- 
self. Every  effort  was  made  to  change  him.  At 
the  last  even  those  political  advisers  who  had  op- 
posed a  third  term  joined  the  forces  of  those  who 
insisted  that  the  Governor  must  run  once  more. 
Meantime,  by  one  of  those  freaks  of  politics,  the 
Bryan  Democrats  of  Minnesota,  who  had  so  vigor- 

138 


SUBSEOUENT  CAMPAIGNS 

ously  and  bitterly  opposed  Governor  Johnson  as  a 
presidential  candidate,  became  the  most  strenuous 
advocates  of  a  third  term.  The  Governor's  "  or- 
ganization '"  was,  of  course,  enjoined  from  doing 
anything  for  him,  and  remained  passive,  while  their 
erstwhile  opponents  lined  up  county  after  county 
for  "  Johnson,  first,  last,  and  all  the  time." 

As  the  day  approached  for  the  convention  in  Min- 
neapolis the  situation  was  most  confused.  The 
Governor  was  firm,  the  party  demanded  his  nomina- 
tion, and  there  was  a  fear  that  he  would  take  some 
abrupt  method  of  ending  the  situation  that  would 
leave  the  party  hopelessly  demoralized.  These  were 
days  of  gloom  in  the  Governor's  official  circle.  The 
day  before,  yes,  the  morning  of  the  convention, 
Governor  Johnson  himself  did  not  know  what  he 
would  do,  if  nominated.  No  matter  how  strong 
his  objections,  they  who  were  determined  to  nomi- 
nate him  felt  that  he  would  have  to  admit  an  obliga- 
tion to  the  party  that  would  compel  him  to  accept 
the  nomination.  Governor  Johnson's  friends  had 
agreed  upon  Congressman  Hammond  as  the  nom- 
inee, and  laid  their  plans  to  bring  about  his  nomina- 
tion. But  there  was  no  chance  for  plans  in  that 
mad  convention.  Mayor  Lawler  of  St.  Paul  placed 
Govenor  Johnson's  name  before  the  convention. 
Then   ensued   a   scene    rarely   witnessed    outside   a 

139 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

national  convention.  For  more  than  an  hour  a 
thousand  men  cheered,  shouted,  waved  their  arms, 
raced  up  and  down  the  convention  hall  and  out  into 
the  streets.  They  would  have  Johnson  and  none 
but  Johnson.     He  was  nominated. 

When  the  news  of  the  convention's  action  was 
brought  to  him  the  Governor  was  genuinely  dis- 
tressed. He  had  most  sincerely  tried  to  put  the 
honor  away,  he  dreaded  the  ordeal  of  another  cam- 
paign, he  longed  for  private  life.  But  the  call  of 
duty  was  unmistakable.  A  man  owes  something  to 
a  party  and  to  friends  who  had  done  for  him  what 
the  Minnesota  Democracy  and  his  friends  had  done 
for  Governor  Johnson.  The  nomination  was  re- 
luctantly accepted,  against  the  advice  of  Mrs.  John- 
son, who  declared  that  the  Governor  was  the 
victim  of  a  conspiracy  of  his  friends.  But  once 
in  the  contest  the  Governor,  was  in  to  win. 
Once  more  he  bore  the  brunt  of  the  battle.  It  was 
a  hard  campaign.  This  time  the  opposition  was 
more  stubborn,  more  aggressive,  more  determined 
than  in  the  preceding  campaigns.  The  presidential 
canvass  was  on,  too,  and  a  well-planned  effort  was 
made  to  drive  the  independent  Republicans  back  into 
line.  In  the  last  days  of  the  contest  impartial  ob- 
servers began  to  think  that  it  was  possible  that  the 
Governor  would   be  beaten.     He,    however,   never 

140 


SUBSEQUENT  CAMPAIGNS 

doubted  the  outcome  for  a  moment.  The  day  be- 
fore the  election,  though  worn  out  with  the  arduous 
work  of  the  campaign,  and  though  suffering  sorely 
from  the  old  appendicitis  wound,  he  calmly  and  con- 
fidently predicted  that  he  would  win  by  about 
30,000  plurality.  In  fact,  he  had  nearly  30,000 
plurality,  though  President  Taft  carried  the  state  by 
upwards  of  80,000.  For  the  third  time  he  had 
demonstrated  his  wonderful  qualities  as  a  vote- 
getter.  It  was  at  least  some  consolation  for  his  last 
as  well  as  his  first  opponent  to  know  that  it  was  not 
their  weakness  but  Johnson's  strength  that  defeated 
them.  But  the  victory  was  dearly  bought.  The 
exertions  of  the  campaign  and  its  hardships  aggra- 
vated the  old  intestinal  trouble. 

But  the  victory  had  its  reward.  Upwards  of  a 
thousand  telegrams  of  congratulation  came  to  the 
triumphant  governor  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
States,  Canada,  and  even  from  Europe.  Hundreds 
of  these  messages  hailed  him  as  the  leader  who  four 
years  later  would  lead  the  national  party  to  victory 
as  he  had  three  times  in  succession  lead  the  state 
party  to  victory. 

And  so  once  more  St.  Peter  celebrates  the  victory 
of  her  favorite  and  faithful  son.  November  12, 
1908,  every  steam  whistle  in  the  town  is  blowing, 
bells  are  ringing  and  cannon  fire  a  salute  of  thirteen 

141 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

guns,  crowds  cheer  —  a  tall,  over-coated  man  steps 
from  the  train  and,  three  times  governor,  John 
Johnson  returns  to  his  own  people.  Among  those 
who  welcome  him  is  the  little  girl  with  whom  he 
went  to  school,  now  Madame  Olive  Fremstad. 
They  talk  long  over  the  old  days;  and  their  talk 
ranges  from  Gibb  Patch's  cornfield  to  the  capitol  at 
Washington  and  from  the  school  days  in  old  St 
Peter  to  the  conquests  of  the  prima  donna. 


142 


CHAPTER  X 


POLITICAL    METHODS 


AS  in  all  else  he  did,  Governor  Johnson  in  poli- 
tics was  a  marvel  because  of  his  success 
without  seeming  effort  or  laborious  planning  or 
devious  calculating.  To  the  astute  politicians  who 
surrounded  and  worked  so  hard  for  him,  he  was 
long  a  puzzle.  At  first,  they  were  inclined  to  look 
upon  him  as  merely  a  good-natured  boy  grown  into 
a  man.  They  did  not  credit  him  with  either  good 
judgment  or  foresight. 

His  methods  were  not  the  ordinary  political 
methods,  and  perhaps  they  prevailed  because  of 
their  novelty.  It  would  be  a  waste  of  words  to  say 
that  he  never  gave  way  to  considerations  of  po- 
litical expediency,  though  always  he  was  a  cham- 
pion of  principle  as  opposed  to  expediency.  No 
man  ever  stayed  in  politics  any  length  of  time  with- 
out in  some  degree  sacrificing  abstract  principle  to 
expediency.  Even  Lincoln,  to  whom  Johnson  has 
often  been  compared,  did  not  hesitate  to  do  the  ex- 
pedient thing.     When  a  man  becomes  the  leader  of 

*43 


10 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

a  political  party,  or  the  executive  of  a  great  state 
his  personality  becomes  multiplex.  He  can  not  al- 
ways decide  and  act  as  the  individual  man.  Yet 
in  no  great  matter  did  John  Johnson  ever  allow  the 
pressure  of  the  moment  to  swerve  him  from  ad- 
herence to  principle.  The  chief  fault  he  found  with 
his  own  party  was  that,  in  his  opinion,  it  sometimes 
had  been  too  much  inclined  to  take  up  the  expedient 
and  popular  rather  than  the  right.  In  many  of  his 
speeches  he  preached  this  idea,  that  the  party  would 
never  achieve  great  success  until  it  ceased  to  run  to 
fads  and  stood  for  principle. 

Early  in  his  first  term,  his  advisers  discovered 
that  if  Johnson  were  merely  a  big  boy,  he  had  a 
strong  backbone.     Always  open  to  advice  and  coun- 
sel, always  grateful  to  his  friends,  it  was  discovered 
that  he  regarded  himself,  as  governor,  as  responsible 
to  an  authority  beyond  his   friends  —  beyond  his 
party  —  the  people  of  the  state.     His  was  the  re- 
sponsibility to  the  people  ultimately,  therefore,  in 
the  last  resort,  every  important  matter  must  be  set- 
tled on  the  basis  of  that  stewardship.     This  atti- 
tude caused  much  heart-burning  at  first,   and  the 
Governor   was   sometimes   accused   of   ingratitude. 
But  it  gradually  became  known  that  Johnson  was 
governor  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name. 

Governor  Johnson  had  scant  love  for  indirection, 

144 


POLITICAL  METHODS 

and  he  did  not  believe  in  playing  politics.     He  was 
for  measures  or  against  them  on  their  merits,  and 
devoted  no  time  to  the  careful  weighing  of  the  ef- 
fects of  his  acts  as  regards  partisan  advantage  or 
disadvantage.     There   was   not   the   slightest   trace 
of  the  demagogue   in  him.     He  never  advocated 
anti-corporation  measures  out  of  hatred  for  corpora- 
tions; he  advocated  them  because  he  believed  they 
were  right.     He  had  no  hatred  of  individuals  who 
in  the  popular  mind  are  the  incarnated  devils  of  cor- 
poration oppression.     He  regarded  them  as  the  in- 
evitable products  of  conditions,  and  did  not  with- 
hold admiration  for  their  creative  genius.     It  was, 
perhaps,  unpopular  for  the  Governor  of  Minnesota 
to  express  his  respect  for  that  consummate  railway 
genius,  James  J.  Hill,  but  Johnson  did  not  hesitate 
to  do  so  nor  to  unveil  the  Hill  statue  at  Seattle. 
Johnson  believed  in  the  open,  frank  way  of  attain- 
ing ends.     He  did  not  appear  to  aim  at  one  purpose, 
while  secretly  striving  to  attain  another.     He  could 
always  be  located.     This  course  proved  to  be  good 
politics  with  him.     The  people  liked  it  and  gave 
him  their  votes,  but  he  did  not  follow  the  policy  be- 
cause it  was  good  policy.     It  was  simply  his  way. 

He  so  invariably  had  the  people  with  him  in  all 
the  important  things  he  did  that  the  politicians, 
measuring  him  by  themselves(  finally  came  to  think 

145 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

that  he  was  a  master  politician,  instead  of  a  lucky 
boy.  They  made  up  their  minds  that  under  that 
frank,  friendly  exterior  there  was  a  deep,  calculat- 
ing, plotting  mind.  But  in  this  they  were  as  much 
in  error  as  when  they  thought  he  was  lacking  in 
great  parts.  The  truth  is  that  Johnson  was  so 
close  to  the  people  that  his  judgment  of  men  and 
events  was  the  best  possible  barometer  of  popular 
opinion.  He  did  not  keep  his  ear  to  the  ground 
with  a  view  to  shaping  his  policy  by  the  probable 
trend  of  public  opinion.  His  judgment  simply  co- 
incided with  the  public  judgment  or  forestalled  it. 
As  a  man  of  the  people,  he  looked  at  things  as  the 
composite  popular  eye  saw  them.  He  might  have 
been  wrong,  doubtless,  he  often  was  wrong,  but  the 
people  were  wrong  with  him. 

After  a  while  it  became  evident  that  even  in 
purely  partisan  political  matters  he  had  a  good  head. 
When  the  campaign  is  on,  and  the  incumbent  of 
office  is  a  candidate  for  reelection,  it  devolves  upon 
him  to  play  the  political  game.  A  man  in  poli- 
tics does  not  need  to  make  a  fool  of  himself  in 
order  to  prove  his  devotion  to  principle.  There  is 
a  political  diplomacy  and  strategy  that  a  Lincoln 
can  resort  to  without  proving  himself  false  to  the 
state  or  principle.  Johnson  as  a  candidate  had  his 
own  ideas  about  the  way  the  game  should  be  played. 

146 


POLITICAL  METHODS 

Many  times  in  campaigns  he  shaped  his  speeches 
and  concentrated  his  attack  in  a  manner  directly 
contrary  to  the  advice  of  his  closest  friends.  As 
a  rule,  the  outcome  demonstrated  his  political  sa- 
gacity. 

Personality  is  a  power  in  politics  as  well  as  in 
society  and  business.  The  personality  that  made 
Johnson  the  well-beloved  at  home  and  among  the 
country  editors  was  a  power  of  strength  to  him  in 
politics.  Johnson,  if  he  were  aware  of  his  mag- 
netic personality,  never  consciously  used  it.  He 
was  simply  irresistible.  The  party  label  had  very 
little  power  to  hold  the  man  who  knew  Johnson. 
When  this  man  got  into  the  little  voting  booth  he 
forgot  party  and  voted  for  the  man.  Johnson  won 
men  individually  and  in  the  mass.  It  was  difficult 
for  a  stranger  to  talk  with  him  for  a  few  minutes 
without  becoming  an  ardent  admirer.  It  was 
equally  difficult  for  audiences  to  escape  his  endear- 
ing personality.  He  was  not  a  great  orator,  but 
he  was  a  splendid  speaker.  He  spoke  simply,  nat- 
urally, enthusiastically  —  he  won  audiences  just  as 
he  won  individuals. 

A  close  friend  of  the  Governor  after  long  re- 
flection on  the  secret  of  his  popularity  came  to 
this  conclusion: 

"  John  is  so  popular  because  he  is  so  interested 

147 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

in  humanity.  He  is  genuinely  concerned  about 
every  human  being  with  whom  he  comes  in  con- 
tact. A  man  or  a  woman  is  not  a  mere  unit  in  an 
immense  whole  to  him.  He  is  able  to  view  each 
person's  affairs  to  a  high  degree  from  that  person's 
point  of  view.  Nothing  so  much  interests  us  in  the 
world  as  ourselves.  In  the  highest  degree  John 
Johnson  has  the  faculty  of  seeing  every  other  man's 
life  as  that  man  views  it  himself.  The  average  man 
who  meets  the  governor  of  a  state  naturally  feels 
somewhat  awed  by  direct  contact  with  authority. 
Therefore  when  the  hesitant  caller  discovers  after 
a  few  minutes  of  conversation  that  the  Governor  of 
Minnesota  is  even  more  interested  in  him  than  he  is 
in  the  Governor  he  loses  his  timidity,  becomes  con- 
versational and  surprises  himself  by  his  ease.  He 
goes  away  from  the  Governor's  office  with  a  better 
opinion  of  himself  and  only  one  opinion  of  the 
Governor  —  unqualified  approval.  This  natural 
human  interest  the  Governor  has  is  reinforced  by 
his  wonderful  memory  for  names  and  incidents. 
The  caller  is  surprised  to  find  that  the  Governor, 
who  may  have  met  him  once  years  before,  recalls 
his  name,  the  occasion  of  the  meeting  and  knows 
many  of  his  friends  and  acquaintances." 

Governor  Johnson  maintained  the  dignity  of  his 
office  without  ceasing  to  be  plain,  approachable  John 

148 


POLITICAL  METHODS 

Johnson.     He  dressed  well  and  appropriately  to  the 
occasion,   and   even   achieved   a    reputation   as   the 
best-dressed  governor;  though   when  he  was  first 
considered   as  a  possibility   for   governor   in    1904 
a    prominent    Democratic    politician    advised    Mr. 
Day  to  take  his  discovery  out  and  get  him  a  suit 
that    was    a    little    roomier    and    with    less    tight- 
fitting  trousers.     He  was  always  equal  to  the  oc- 
casion, and    the    people    of    Minnesota  took  a  cer- 
tain   satisfaction    in    feeling    that    their    governor 
looked  the  part.     Nevertheless,  he  was  absolutely 
without  formality  or  convention  in  receiving  callers. 
He  was  always  accessible,  and  showed  no  favors. 
Yet  he  could  dispose  of  callers  in  a  limited  time 
and   without    giving   offense.     Lie    was    never    op- 
pressed by  his  office.     Like  as  not  he  would  sur- 
prise   a   caller    by   tilting   back    in   his    chair    and 
shooting  his  long  legs  up  to  the  top  of  the  table. 
Generally  he   sat  on  the  edge   of  the  office   table 
when  meeting  callers.     He  was  restless,  and  liked 
to  stride  out  into  the  reception  room,  between  calls 
or   business  engagements,   on   which   occasions   he 
usually  made  the  rounds  of  all  who  might  be  wait- 
ing there.     As  a  rule  he  had  something  worth  while 
to  say,  and  awkward  pauses  were  rare.     A  maga- 
zine writer  *  has  given  an  account  of  an  interview 

*  Don  E.  Giffin  in  The  Independent. 

149 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

that  is  typical  of  the  Governor's  way  of  meeting 
people : 

"  A  young  attorney  was  showing  his  fiancee 
through  the  Minnesota  State  Capitol,  and  they 
stopped  to  rest  a  few  moments  in  the  magnificent 
reception  room  just  outside  the  gubernatorial  cham- 
bers. A  moment  later,  a  tall,  smooth-faced  man  of 
medium  build,  dressed  in  a  business  suit  of  a  green- 
ish brown  color,  came  from  the  inner  room  with 
quick,  almost  nervous  steps.  He  glanced  about  him 
as  he  entered,  said,  '  Hello,  boys,'  to  three  or  four 
reporters  who  were  waiting  for  the  adjournment  of 
the  pardon  board,  and  then  walked  to  where  the  at- 
torney and  the  young  woman  were  standing.  He 
greeted  the  former  cordially  and  acknowledged  his 
introduction  to  the  girl  with  earnest  warmth,  which 
called  forth  an  involuntary  response. 

"'And  how  do  you  like  the  West?'  was  his 
decidedly  conventional  question,  on  learning  that 
she  was  from  another  part  of  the  country. 

"  '  Oh,  I  rather  like  it,'  she  answered,  '  though, 
of  course,  it  is  very  different  from  home.  I  live 
in  Boston,  you  know,'  with  just  a  tinge  of  pride 
in  tone  and  manner. 

"  The  Governor  smiled  quietly. 

" '  Of  course,  such  proximity  to  great  institu- 
tions develops  an   atmosphere   of  its   own  in   any 

150 


POLITICAL  METHODS 

city,"  he  said.  '  But  do  you  know,'  and  here 
a  broad  strong  hand  made  a  sweeping  gesture, 
which  seemed  to  include  all  points  of  the  compass, 
'  we  have  culture  out  here,  too  —  the  culture  of 
manliness.  You  will  find  it  in  every  city,  every  vil- 
lage, every  community  in  the  country.  We  all  ac- 
knowledge it  and  admire  it,  and  it  is  the  best  kind, 
after  all.  It  is  what  has  made  this  country  the 
greatest  on  the  globe,  and  it  is  what  has  made  Amer- 
ica respected  wherever  true  Americans  are  known.' 

"  The  interview  lasted  about  two  minutes,  during 
which  time  the  girl  from  Boston  scarcely  let  her 
glance  wander  from  the  Governor's  face.  When  he 
finally  excused  himself,  and  disappeared  with  such 
suddenness  that  he  almost  seemed  to  have  vanished, 
she  stood  gazing  after  him  for  a  moment,  and  then 
turned  to  her  companion  with  the  words: 

"  '  Why,  I  like  him.  Somehow,  I  feel  as  if  I  had 
always  known  him.' 

"  Such  a  man  is  Governor  John  A.  Johnson  of 
Minnesota.  To  meet  him  is  to  like  him.  To  talk 
with  him  is  to  become  his  friend.  To  know  him 
well  is  to  join  the  ranks  of  his  admirers.  He  is  pos- 
sessed of  a  compelling  power  which  may  be  personal 
magnetism,  or  may  be  the  attraction  of  inherent 
manliness,  deep-seated  sincerity  that  draws  to  him 
everyone  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact.     It   is 

151 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

impossible  to  describe,  yet  it  is  there  and  never  fails 
to  make  itself  felt.  Perhaps  it  lies  partly  in  his  be- 
lief in  men,  for  his  remark  to  the  girl  was  not  a 
mere  platitude,  but  the  expression  of  a  firm  convic- 
tion born  of  experience  that  has  included  associa- 
tion with  many  classes  of  society. 

"  Perhaps  the  most  effective  thing  in  Governor 
Johnson's  greeting  to  a  stranger,  next  to  the  frank, 
direct  look  in  the  blue-gray  eyes,  is  that  hand-clasp 
of  his.  It  is  free  and  hearty,  absolutely  lacking  in 
ostentation  or  condescension,  warm  with  the  warmth 
of  instant  friendliness.  Hours  or  even  days  after- 
wards you  remember  it  and  can  recall  the  exact 
sensation  it  gave  you.  If  several  other  persons 
are  present  at  the  introduction  you  forget  them  for 
the  time  being  and  realize  only  that  you  are  meeting 
John  A.  Johnson  for  the  first  time,  and  you  are  even 
conscious  of  a  hope  that  it  may  not  be  the  last.  As 
you  study  his  face  you  see  there  lines  of  thought, 
of  care,  which  it  is  easy  to  believe  are  the  result  of  a 
lost  boyhood,  an  assumption  of  the  duties  of  life 
all  too  early,  according  to  our  standards  of  child 
development." 

Governor  Johnson  dealt  with  a  legislature  of  the 
opposite  party  in  a  frank  man-to-man,  fellow-citizen 
way  that  smoothed  his  path,  even  when  a  pardon- 
able effort  was  made  to  block  him.     It  must  be  said 

152 


POLITICAL  METHODS 

to  the  credit  of  the  legislatures  that  they  usually 
met  him  half-way.  He  was  so  popular  that  he 
might  have  been  successful  with  the  Rooseveltian 
method  of  dealing  with  Congress.  But  that  was 
not  the  Johnson  way.  He  got  on  safe  and  strong 
ground  in  his  recommendations  to  the  legislature, 
and  then  left  the  rest  to  that  body.  His  subse- 
quent attitude  was  that  he  had  done  his  duty,  and 
it  only  remained  for  the  legislature  to  do  its  duty. 

An  illuminating  instance  of  the  Johnsonian  way 
of  getting  along  with  the  legislature  is  afforded  by 
the  tax  commission  legislation.  The  Governor  fa- 
vored taxation  reform  and  the  appointment  of  a 
permanent  tax  commission.  The  work  of  the  com- 
mission called  for  the  appointment  of  high-grade 
men  at  good  salaries.  Naturally  enough  the  Re- 
publican legislature  hesitated  to  create  three  of- 
fices for  Democratic  appointees.  Informally,  the 
Governor  caused  it  to  be  known  that  if  the  commis- 
sion were  created,  none  would  find  fault  with  his 
appointments  on  the  ground  of  partisanship.  The 
legislature  took  the  Governor's  word  for  it  and 
passed  the  law.  The  Governor  then  announced  his 
appointees.  One  was  a  prominent  Republican,  one 
was  a  Democrat,  and  one  was  a  professor  of  eco- 
nomics in  the  University  of  Minnesota  whose  poli- 
tics was  unknown  —  and  all  were  men  of  ability 

153 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

and  fitness  for  the  position.  The  appointments 
were  so  acceptable  that  the  senate  enthusiastically 
ratified  the  appointments,  and  the  house,  which  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  matter,  adopted  a  resolution 
expressing  its  satisfaction. 

The  Johnson  methods  in  politics  and  affairs  of 
state  were  simply  the  Johnson  personal  methods  ap- 
plied to  public  matters.  His  theory  was  that  in  the 
main  the  average  man  inclines  to  do  what  is  just  and 
righteous,  and  that,  therefore,  in  the  long  run  it  is 
more  successful  to  make  a  straight  appeal  to  the 
average  man  to  join  with  you  in  doing  the  right 
thing,  than  to  attempt  to  lead  him  up  to  it  by  some 
devious  route.  Johnson  had  faith  in  human  nature 
and  applied  it.  Johnson,  himself,  was  decidedly 
human,  and  it  should  not  be  inferred  that  any  at- 
tempt is  here  made  to  represent  him  as  being  of 
such  sublimated  virtue  that  he  could  conduct  the 
office  of  governor  without  any  regard  for  personal 
or  political  affiliations.  He  was  not  of  that  im- 
peccable virtue  that  he  could  forget  the  ties  of 
friendship.  Loyalty  was  one  of  his  characteristics, 
and  though  he  made  public  considerations  the  su- 
preme guide  in  his  conduct  he  did  not  find  that  al- 
ways inconsistent  with  remembering  his  friends. 
This,  however,  he  would  not  do  —  he  would  not  ap- 
point to  any  office  a  man  that  he  believed  to  be  in- 

154 


POLITICAL  METHODS 

competent  or  unfitted  for  the  place.  Some  unfor- 
tunate appointments,  he  undoubtedly  did  make,  but 
in  these  instances  he  waived  his  own  judgment  and 
accepted  that  of  others. 


155 


CHAPTER  XI 

ACHIEVEMENTS    IN    OFFICE 

ACTION  was  the  characterizing  quality  of  Gov- 
ernor Johnson's  administrations.  He  brought 
to  the  gubernatorial  office  a  conception  of  active 
duty.  He  looked  upon  the  office  as  that  of  the 
general  manager  of  the  state.  He  sought  responsi- 
bility, he  proposed  reforms,  he  advocated  innova- 
tions, he  infused  energy  and  fidelity  into  every  de- 
partment of  the  state.  He  felt  that  a  governor 
should  create  duties  and  manufacture  opportunities. 
He  would  have  been  an  ideal  premier  in  a  cabinet 
government.  He  realized  the  defects  of  our  system 
of  irresponsible  government  and  sought  to  establish 
responsibility  by  individual  initiative.  However,  he 
made  haste  slowly.  As  a  new  governor  he  thought 
himself  not  sufficiently  familiar  with  the  business  of 
the  state  to  indulge  in  an  inaugural  address  bristling 
with  recommendations.  Reflecting  on  his  lack  of 
knowledge  of  state  conditions,  he  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  two  years  was  too  short  a  term  for  the 
evolution  of  any  candidate  into  a  governor  and  pro- 

156 


ACHIEVEMENTS  IN  OFFICE 

posed  that  the  term  be  extended  to  four  years  with- 
out reelection.  The  legislature  did  not  act  on  this 
recommendation  but  the  people  gave  the  man  who 
made  the  suggestion  a  term  of  six  years. 

The  complex  problem  of  taxation  was  one  of  the 
first  to  attract  Governor  Johnson's  attention.  Meet- 
ing cordial  cooperation  from  the  Republican  legis- 
lature, he  was  instrumental  in  creating  a  tax  com- 
mission, composed  of  experts  and  endowed  with 
large  authority,  which  has  accomplished  wonderful 
results.  The  assessed  valuation  of  the  iron  mines 
of  Minnesota  was  raised  from  $32,000,000  to 
$190,000,000  and  marked  progress  was  made  to- 
ward an  equitable  and  just  system  of  taxation. 
Facing  still  further  increase  of  valuation  the  U.  S. 
Steel  Corporation  pledged  itself,  by  way  of  com- 
promise, to  erect  a  twenty  million  dollar  plant  in 
Minnesota. 

This  problem  of  taxing  the  iron  mines  which  sup- 
ply the  furnaces  of  the  East  while  depleting  Min- 
nesota of  a  great  natural  wealth  was  productive  of 
a  remarkable  illustration  of  Governor  Johnson's 
balance  and  fearlessness.  His  three  general  mes- 
sages to  the  legislature  show  a  groping  in  his  mind 
toward  some  sort  of  a  tonnage  tax  on  ore  produc- 
tion. And  the  U.  S.  Steel  Corporation  was  so  con- 
vinced that  he  would  ultimately,  if  continued  in 

157 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

power,  bring  about  such  a  system  of  taxation  that 
its  influence  was  powerfully  used  against  him  in  the 
last  campaign.  The  Governor  did  with  some  re- 
serve advise  the  legislature  to  consider  a  royalty  tax, 
which  would,  in  effect,  have  been  a  tonnage  tax  — 
at  the  same  time  pointing  out  that  a  royalty  tax 
would  not  reach  mines  operated  by  their  owners. 
A  tonnage  tax  bill  was  introduced  and  passed  in 
the  legislative  session  of  1909.  Outside  the  iron 
regions  of  the  state  it  was  a  highly  popular  meas- 
ure—  and  four-fifths  of  the  people  of  the  state 
reside  beyond  those  regions.  When  the  bill  was 
passed  the  people  of  the  iron  districts  were  fran- 
tic. They  considered  it  a  ruinous  measure.  Three 
thousand  telegrams  were  rushed  to  the  Governor 
demanding  a  veto.  The  remainder  of  the  state 
demanded  approval.  It  was  a  situation  that 
seemed  hopeless  for  the  continuation  of  the  Gov- 
ernor's popularity.  After  due  deliberation  he 
calmly  took  the  unpopular  course  and  vetoed  the 
bill.  He  supported  his  veto  with  a  message  which 
won  instant  approval  of  his  course  —  and  thus  tak- 
ing the  unpopular  course,  he  found  himself  more 
popular  than  ever.  It  was  a  wonderful  illustration 
of  how  implicitly  the  people  will  accept  the  judg- 
ment of  a  man  in  whom  they  believe. 

The   insurance    reforms    of   recent   years    found 

158 


ACHIEVEMENTS  IN  OFFICE 

Governor  Johnson  ready  to  do  his  part.  The  affairs 
of  a  large  insurance  company  having  its  headquar- 
ters in  Minneapolis  were  found  to  be  greatly  in- 
volved during  the  Governor's  first  administration. 
Through  his  insurance  commissioner,  Mr.  T.  D. 
O'Brien,  he  brought  about  a  reorganization  of  the 
company  and  a  general  straightening  of  its  affairs. 
Perceiving  the  necessity  of  better  and  more  uniform 
insurance  laws,  Governor  Johnson  was  instrumental 
in  bringing  about  an  interstate  conference  at  Chi- 
cago, over  which  he  presided,  that  adopted  a  pro- 
posed insurance  code,  which  has  since  been  adopted 
in  many  states. 

Governor  Johnson's  influence  was  a  powerful  fac- 
tor in  railway  legislation  and  rate  reductions.  One 
speech  of  his  resulted  in  a  voluntary  reduction  of  ten 
per  cent,  in  certain  classes  of  freight  rates  in  north- 
ern Minnesota.  Other  reductions  were  made  by 
commission  order  and  legislative  enactment,  though 
the  commodity  rate  reductions  ordered  have  here- 
tofore been  avoided  by  litigation.  The  Governor 
took  the  initiative  in  the  two-cent-a-mile  passenger 
rate  movement.  Such  a  law  was  enacted  and, 
though  the  railways  have  fought  it  in  the  courts,  it 
is  still  actually  in  effect. 

Recognizing  the  many  abuses  that  attach  to  pri- 
vate  employment   bureaus,    the    Governor    recom- 

159 
11 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

mended  the  creation  of  a  free  state  employment 
bureau,  which  has  proved  a  great  success.  In  all 
three  of  his  administrations,  Governor  Johnson 
steadfastly  endeavored  to  secure  better  laws  for  the 
protection  of  workmen  and  he  especially  attacked 
the  common-law  doctrine  of  the  non-liability  of  an 
employer  for  injuries  arising  from  the  negligence 
of  a  fellow  servant. 

In  legislation  of  purely  local  interest  and  value, 
Governor  Johnson's   administrations  were  prolific. 

A  summary  of  some  of  the  progressive  legislation 
enacted  at  Governor  Johnson's  suggestion  is  here 
given :  — 

A  broad  amendment  to  the  state  constitutional 
provision  for  taxation. 

An  inheritance  tax  law. 

An  improvement  of  the  state  timber  trespass  laws. 

Creation  of  a  state  immigration  bureau. 

Separate  training  school  for  delinquent  girls. 

Uniform  life  insurance  laws. 

Permanent  tax  commission  which  is  steadily  mak- 
ing for  scientific  taxation. 

Maximum  freight  rate  schedule. 

Two-cent  passenger  fare  law. 

Abolition  of  railway  passes  and  franks. 

A  reciprocal  demurrage  law. 

A  registry  tax  on  real  estate  mortgages. 

1 60 


ACHIEVEMENTS  IN  OFFICE 

Increased  taxation  of  sleeping  car  companies. 

Abolition  of  private  banks. 

A  law  facilitating  municipal  ownership. 

Extension  of  state  drainage  operations. 

Larger  salaries  for  the  State  University  faculty. 

Establishment  of  a  state  harvesting  machine  fac- 
tory. 

As  an  executive  the  most  spectacular  achievement 
of  his  career  was  his  handling  of  the  strike  on  the 
Minnesota  iron  ranges  in  the  summer  of  1907.  The 
mines  had  been  organized  by  the  Western  Federa- 
tion of  Miners,  who  sought  to  extend  the  labor- 
capital  war  of  Idaho  and  Colorado  to  Minnesota. 
Teofllo  Petriella,  an  Italian  socialist,  was  the  organ- 
izer. Urged  on  by  his  leadership  and  the  fiery  ap- 
peals of  other  socialists,  sixteen  thousand  men  went 
out  on  strike.  Soon  a  crisis  impended.  Many  of 
the  miners  were  armed,  citizens  were  armed  and 
sworn  in  as  deputy  sheriffs,  and  the  mine  employes 
who  remained  on  duty,  likewise  armed,  guarded 
the  mine  property.  The  strikers,  largely  ignorant 
foreigners,  convinced  by  their  leaders  that  they  were 
deeply  wronged,  were  in  an  ugly  mood.  The  armed 
citizens  and  business  men,  angered  at  what  seemed 
to  them  a  wanton  suspension  of  business  held  the 
strikers  in  contempt.  It  needed  only  a  spark  to 
explode  this  magazine  of  hatred  and  fancied  wrong. 

161 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

The  mine  owners  and  the  business  men,  by  tele- 
gram, telephone  and  letter,  warned  Governor  John- 
son that  unless  state  troops  were  dispatched  to  the 
iron  mines  violence  and  bloodshed  would  ensue. 
Some  of  the  Governor's  advisers  urged  him  to  com- 
ply immediately  with  the  request  for  troops.  In- 
stead of  doing  so  the  Governor  went  to  the  Range 
himself.  Without  guard  or  escort,  he  sought  out 
the  leaders  of  the  strike  and  told  them  in  plain  lan- 
guage that  if  there  should  be  any  violence  the  troops 
would  be  sent,  and  sent  quickly.  Perhaps  never 
before  in  America  was  afforded  the  spectacle  of  the 
governor  of  a  great  state  going  in  person  to  poten- 
tial disturbers  of  the  peace,  engaging  in  man-to-man 
conversation  with  them  and  winning  them  over  to 
law  and  order.  They  promised  that  there  would 
be  no  violence.  The  leaders  of  the  other  side  of 
the  industrial  controversy  were  seen  in  the  same 
personal  manner.  In  one  of  the  Range  towns,  the 
Governor  addressed  a  meeting  at  which  his  remarks 
were  loudly  applauded.  He  sternly  suppressed  the 
applause,  saying  that  he  wanted  it  understood  that 
he  was  talking  to  make  himself  understood  —  not 
to  seek  popularity.  Returning  to  St.  Paul,  the  Gov- 
ernor issued  a  proclamation  warning  all  to  keep  the 
peace.  And  the  peace  was  kept  without  the  use  of 
a  single  soldier  or  the  firing  of  a  single  shot  —  at 

162 


ACHIEVEMENTS  IN  OFFICE 

the  cost  to  the  state  only  of  the  Governor's  trip  to 
the  Range. 

Governor  Johnson  said  afterwards  that  his  meet- 
ings with  the  socialist  labor  leaders  at  this  time  was 
of  great  benefit  to  him.  He  learned  the  point  of 
view  of  labor  and  of  the  socialist  and  obtained  a 
better  idea  of  how  those  who  bear  the  world's  phys- 
ical burden  look  on  their  task,  their  taskmasters,  and 
society. 

Throughout  his  terms  in  the  governor's  office. 
Johnson  was  intent  on  doing  his  duty.  He  was 
particular  in  attending  to  his  duties  as  ex-officio 
member  of  many  state  boards.  In  this  way  he  kept 
in  touch  with  state  affairs  and  exercised  a  salutary 
influence,  even  where  his  powers  were  limited. 
The  Governor  would  never  absent  himself  from  an 
important  board  meeting  to  gratify  his  own  inclina- 
tions or  to  suit  his  personal  interests.  At  a  crisis 
in  his  presidential  nomination  campaign  he  abso- 
lutely refused  to  listen  to  the  advice  of  his  man- 
agers because  to  do  so  would  take  him  away  from 
an  important  board  meeting.  After  the  meeting  he 
went  merrily  to  a  ball  game; — and  the  presidency 
at  stake! 

This  steadiness  in  doing  his  own  will  when  he 
knew  he  was  right  ever  kept  the  Governor  far  from 
demagogy.     As  a  legislator  he  refused  to  be  a  party 

163 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

to  "  pork  barrel  "  appropriations,  even  when  threat- 
ened with  niggardly  appropriations  for  his  home 
institution.  As  governor  he  vetoed  a  bill  extending 
relief  to  persons  who  had  suffered  from  the  Indian 
war  of  forty  years  before,  though  scores  of  his  con- 
stituents at  home  would  have  been  beneficiaries. 

Members  of  the  various  boards  testify  to  Gov- 
ernor Johnson's  remarkable  ability  in  analyzing  and 
solving  complex  problems.  A  member  of  the  Board 
of  Control,  himself  a  man  of  great  industry  and 
comprehensive  mental  grasp,  said  that  he  marveled 
many  times  at  the  lucid  advice  he  had  received  from 
the  Governor  when  he  had  gone  to  him  with  some 
knotty  problem  of  administration. 

The  knowledge  that  there  was  a  man  of  a  dif- 
ferent party  from  theirs  in  the  governor's  chair  and 
that  he  was  making  a  splendid  record,  had  a  stimu- 
lating effect  on  the  officials  in  state  departments 
over  which  the  Governor  had  no  legal  control.  Not 
to  be  outdone,  they  vied  with  the  Governor  in  well- 
doing. The  Republican  legislature  could  not  afford 
to  be  surpassed  by  a  Democratic  governor.  Thus 
what  might  be  termed  divided  responsibility  resulted 
in  Governor  Johnson's  administrations  being  the 
most  successful,  progressive  and  achieving  in  the 
history  of  the  state. 


164 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE    FAMOUS    GRIDIRON    DINNER 

ONE  speech  made  Johnson  a  national  charac- 
ter. His  triumphant  second  election  as  gov- 
ernor of  Minnesota  caused  much  talk  throughout 
the  country,  but  nothing  had  happened  to  focus 
national  attention  on  him.  After  that  speech  was 
made  he  was  unquestionably,  next  to  William  Jen- 
nings Bryan,  the  most  prominent  Democrat.  The 
occasion  was  the  December  (December  7,  1907) 
dinner  of  the  Gridiron  Club,  that  famous  organiza- 
tion of  journalists  at  the  national  capital.  The  un- 
expected, unheralded  speech  the  little-known  west- 
ern governor  then  made  is  declared  by  the  Wash- 
ington Post  to  have  had  no  parallel  in  political 
history,  "  the  nearest  being  Abraham  Lincoln's  un- 
reported speech  in  1856,  which  made  him  immedi- 
ately the  central  figure  of  Western  Republicanism." 
"  With  all  the  disadvantages  of  an  unreported 
speech,"  continues  the  Post,  "  there  go  certain  ex- 
traordinary advantages.  One  of  them  is  that  as  no 
one  can  prove  or  disprove  anything  about  it,  the 

165 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

wildest  eulogy  may  cross  the  continent  without 
criticism,  and  nothing  that  is  said  about  it  seems 
incredible.  The  actual  publication  of  Lincoln's 
speech  in  Hay  and  Nicolay's  life  of  him,  a  genera- 
tion later,  leaves  one  wondering  at  the  effect  it  pro- 
duced, and  the  legend  that  grew  up  about  it  —  for  it 
was  not  one  of  his  greatest,  nor  near  as  great,  for 
instance  as  his  '  house  divided  against  itself ' 
speech." 

After  outlining  the  situation  in  the  Democratic 
Party  at  this  time,  and  the  frantic  search  for  a 
leader  that  was  then  in  progress,  the  Post  pub- 
lished the  following  as  "  written  by  one  who  heard 
the  unreported  speech  of  Governor  Johnson:  " 

"  At  this  time,  while  there  was  a  lackadaisical,  ap- 
athetic, listless  movement  for  Gray  or  Johnson  or 
Harmon  or  anybody,  the  Gridiron  Club  of  Washing- 
ton invited  Governor  Johnson,  Judge  Gray  and 
many  other  national  leaders  to  attend  one  of  its 
dinners  in  Washington.  The  Governor  and  the 
Judge  were  among  those  who  accepted.  There  was 
only  a  languid  interest  in  the  Governor  when  he 
took  his  place,  not  at  the  head  of  the  table,  but  at 
one  of  the  side  tables,  and  attacked  the  Gridiron 
viands. 

"  There  were  250  guests  present,  the  President  of 

166 


THE  FAMOUS  GRIDIRON  DINNER 

the  United  States  at  their  head,  with  supreme  court, 
senate,  house,  the  money  kings  of  the  country,  gen- 
erals, admirals,  authors,  scientists,  governors, 
judges,  '  among  those  present.'  In  the  course  of 
the  evening  —  rather  far  down  the  evening  —  the 
Governor  was  introduced. 

"  The  Gridiron  always  introduces  its  speakers,  not 
with  a  speech,  but  with  a  song,  usually  addressed  to 
the  prospective  speaker,  and  gently  derisive  of  him. 
In  this  case  they  sang  a  song  entitled  '  Poor  John,' 
the  burden  of  which  was  that  '  poor  John  ' —  that 
is,  Johnson  —  wanted  the  nomination,  but  could  n't 
have  it,  because  Bryan  would  n't  let  him. 

"  The  Governor  arose,  and  the  first  glimpse  of  him 
in  the  great  dining  hall  of  the  Willard  somehow 
dissipated  every  tenaciously  held  idea  of  the  stolid 
Scandinavian,  the  new  Alton  B.  Parker.  Before 
he  had  said  a  word  his  merry,  twinkling  eyes  and 
the  genial,  friendly  face  had  belied  every  photograph 
ever  sent  out  about  him,  and  the  deep,  warm  voice 
that  rang  out  in  his  first  sentence  with  strange  and 
happy  inflections  that  made  everybody  warm  to  him, 
made  over  John  A.  Johnson,  made  him  over  com- 
pletely in  a  second  of  time,  to  those  who  thought 
they  knew  what  he  was. 

"'Poor    John?'    he    said.     'I    appreciate    the 

167 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

honor ;  but  don't  you  think,  when  you  look  back  at 
1896,  at  1900  and  at  1904,  you  ought  to  say  "  Poor 
Bill"?' 

"  The  unexpectedness  of  it,  the  additional  element 
of  unexpectedness  that  was  attached  to  its  coming 
from  '  the  stolid  Swede,'  set  the  crowd  wild.  The 
president,  the  speaker  of  the  house,  the  justices  of 
the  supreme  court,  all  united  in  one  mighty  shout 
that  lasted  a  minute.  Johnson  looked  out  over  the 
shouting  crowd  with  eyes  that  danced. 

"  He  was  so  utterly  different  from  what  his  ill- 
advised  press  agents  had  represented  him.  Tall, 
straight,  with  a  sensitive,  mobile  face  that  changed 
in  expression  every  second,  he  was  as  fine-looking 
and  striking  a  presence  as  ever  was  seen  in  a  din- 
ner hall,  despite  the  libelous  photographs  of  his 
press  agents.  His  mellow  voice,  full  of  unexpected 
deeps  and  shallows,  and  always  so  calculated  to 
bring  out  of  the  uttermost  every  meaning  that  lay 
behind  one  of  his  sentences,  may  not  have  been  the 
voice  of  an  orator,  but  no  orator  could  have  made 
such  an  impression  on  that  crowd. 

"  And  remember,  it  was  not  the  ordinary  mass- 
meeting  audience.  It  was  made  up,  that  crowd  of 
250,  of  men  to  whom  oratory  was  their  daily  bread ; 
men  who  heard  it  daily  in  house  and  senate  until 
they  were  sick  of  it.     It  was  the  most  trying  audi- 

168 


THE  FAMOUS  GRIDIRON  DINNER 

ence,  the  most  cynical  and  skeptical  audience,  that  a 
man  could  have  addressed. 

"  It  is  wholly  within  bounds  to  say  that  no  such 
hit  was  ever  made  before  that  audience  —  which  is 
pretty  much  the  same  from  year  to  year  —  as  John 
A.  Johnson  made  that  night. 

"  His  human  enjoyment  of  the  hit  he  was  making 
and  the  surprise  he  was  creating  was  perfectly  ob- 
vious in  his  face  and  manner  as  he  went  on.  He 
was  facing  such  an  audience  as,  four  years  before, 
the  obscure  country  editor  in  Minnesota  could  never 
have  expected  to  confront  —  an  audience  that  is 
given  to  few  men  to  confront;  an  audience  made  up 
of  the  nation's  leaders  in  every  walk  of  life,  and 
an  audience  which  takes  no  interest  in  oratory,  even 
good  oratory  —  and  he  was  conquering  it,  establish- 
ing his  dominion  over  it,  and  raising  that  dominion 
higher  with  every  sentence. 

"  The  matter  of  that  speech  has  escaped  from  the 
mind  of  the  writer.  He  recalls  one  occasion  when 
Johnson,  in  the  midst  of  a  keen,  clever  eulogy  of 
Minnesota,  enumerated  the  products  in  which  she 
excelled  every  other  state,  and  concluded,  with 
a  humorous  glance  at  Vice  President  Fairbanks : 

"'And  her  production  of  artificial  ice  exceeds 
even  that  of  Indiana  ' — 

"  A  witticism  which  brought  the  Vice  President, 

169 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

chuckling,  to  his  feet,  while  everybody  else  roared 
and  stamped. 

"  But  the  jokes  and  sarcasms  inevitably  linger 
longer  in  the  memory  than  the  more  serious  matter 
of  a  speech.  To  sum  it  up,  it  was  a  fresh,  vigorous, 
direct,  typically  western  and  yet  broadly  national 
review  of  the  political  life  of  the  time.  The  en- 
thusiasm of  his  auditors  mounted  every  minute. 
His  delivery  was  appropriate  to  the  matter  —  a 
slashing,  easy  running  delivery,  without  a  suspicion 
of  demagogy  on  the  one  hand  or  pomposity  on  the 
other.  It  was  like  a  western  breeze  rolling  over  the 
jaded  East. 

"  As  the  Governor  finished  and  sat  down  there 
was  such  a  scene  as  had  seldom  been  witnessed  in  the 
Gridiron  Club.  Speaker  Cannon  began  it.  He 
leaped  up  from  his  place  and  darted  around  to 
Johnson's  table  to  grasp  his  hand  in  both  of  his. 
Hardly  a  second  behind  him  came  Senator  Foraker 
and  then  Secretary  Root,  and  after  them  there  piled 
up  a  mass  of  statesmen,  business  men,  newspaper 
men,  lawyers  and  judges,  all  excited  and  delighted, 
all  falling  over  themselves  to  scramble  for  Johnson's 
hand. 

"  Though  he  must  have  had  self-confidence 
enough  to  know  that  he  would  conquer  the  crowd, 
he  could  not  have  looked  for  any  such  tribute  as 

170 


THE  FAMOUS  GRIDIRON  DINNER 

that  —  a  tribute  all  the  more  impressive  because  it 
was  paid  by  the  leaders  of  the  land,  by  men  who  had 
hitherto  been  mere  names  to  him,  in  most  cases. 

"  Naturally,  he  was  flushed  and  excited,  but  he 
stood  his  ground,  giving  back  easy  and  equable  re- 
tort to  all  the  witty  compliments  that  were  showered 
upon  him.  He  sat  down,  still  as  genial  and  as  un- 
affected as  he  had  risen,  though  he  had  had  a  tri- 
umph such  as  comes  to  few  men. 

'  Among  the  guests  were  many  men  who  were 
apathetically  hoping  for  some  not  too  unattractive 
candidate  against  Bryan.  They  had  not  hoped  for 
a  real  leader ;  they  had  hoped  only  for  a  respectable 
name.  They  went  away  from  that  dining  hall  filled 
with  real  enthusiasm  for  the  first  time.  The  name, 
the  respectable  Scandinavian,  had  turned  out  to  be 
a  man. 

'  Charles  H.  Grasty,  then  owner  of  the  Baltimore 
News,  was  one  of  these  men,  and  he  proceeded  to 
print  in  his  paper  such  an  account  of  Johnson  that 
it  made  the  other  anti-Bryan  men  all  over  the  land 
sit  up  and  take  notice.  The  rules  of  the  Gridiron 
Club  forbid  the  publication  of  any  speeches  deliv- 
ered before  it,  and  Johnson's  was  never  reported. 
This  fact  added  to  the  Johnson  legend.  As 
Grasty's  story  went  rolling  on  over  the  country,  re- 
inforced by  the  equally  enthusiastic  reports  of  other 

171 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

men  who  had  attended  the  dinner,  even  the  real 
brilliancy  of  the  speech  was  eclipsed  by  common 
report.  As  a  result  of  it  the  anti-Bryan  men  fell 
in  behind  Johnson  with  real  loyalty  and  enthusiasm 
where  they  had  expected  to  give  only  a  perfunctory 
support  to  the  most  "  available  "  man. 

"  Gray,  it  is  true,  polled  a  larger  vote  than  John- 
son at  Denver,  but  that  was  for  strategic  reasons. 
If  there  had  been  a  real  chance  to  nominate  an  anti- 
Bryan  man  it  would  have  been  Johnson.  He  was 
in  training  again  for  191 2,  with  an  outlook  for  bet- 
ter luck,  when  he  died.  His  passing  leaves  a  senti- 
ment of  real  regret  in  the  hearts  of  the  men  who 
that  night  in  Washington  were  brought  up  standing 
by  the  delivery  of  one  of  the  freshest  and  most 
original  speeches  ever  delivered  at  a  dinner  —  a 
speech  that  made  a  candidate,  and  might  in  three 
years  more  have  made  a  president." 

The  report  of  Charles  H.  Grasty,  then  of  the  Bal- 
timore News,  "  which  went  rolling  over  the  land," 
in  the  light  of  subsequent  developments  is  well 
worth  reading.     This  is  what  Mr.  Grasty  wrote : 

"  JOHNSON  OF  MINNESOTA 

"  After  all,  Henry  Watterson  is  a  pretty  good 
judge  of  colts.  Six  or  eight  months  ago,  when  it 
looked  as  if  the  next  election  would  go  by  default 

172 


THE  FAMOUS  GRIDIRON  DINNER 

to  the  Republican  because  of  the  poverty  of  Presi- 
dential material  in  the  Democratic  Party,  the  Louis- 
ville editor  announced  that  he  had  made  a  dis- 
covery. 

"  The  name  of  Mr.  Watterson's  unknown  did 
not  at  that  time  revive  the  jaded  hopes  of  the  mil- 
lions of  people  who  have  been  yearning  to  get  to- 
gether on  some  plan  and  leadership  that  would  make 
effective  an  opposition  in  this  country.  In  our  ad- 
miration of  the  brilliant  and  picturesque  qualities  of 
Henry  of  Kentucky  we  had  all  forgotten  that  almost 
feminine  instinct  of  his  about  men.  And  so  when 
he  mentioned  the  uninspiring  name  of  John  Johnson 
most  of  us  hardly  took  the  trouble  to  recall  whether 
it  was  in  Minnesota,  Iowa  or  Dakota  that  the 
Republicans  would  not  always  be  sure  of  winning 
against  a  popular  Democrat  of  Swedish  extraction. 

"  But  Mr.  Watterson  knew.  From  his  editorial 
observatory  his  shrewd  and  eager  gaze  had  swept 
every  horizon.  Thus,  while  all  the  rest  were  sub- 
mitting themselves  in  reluctant  resignation  to  a 
third-time  Bryan,  the  cunning  hand  of  Watterson 
plucked  from  the  hitherto  mediocre  mass  of  Demo- 
cratic officialdom  the  man  of  hope. 

"  At  the  psychological  moment,  when  the  mighty 
Republican  Party  is  divided  against  itself,  and  when 
Bryan  has  just  left  us  with  a  fresh  impression  of 

173 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

his  mastery  of  the  situation  and  our  own  helpless- 
ness, Governor  Johnson  appears  on  these  coasts.  It 
is  the  first  time  he  has  been  seen  in  the  presidential 
limelight. 

"  He  attended  the  Gridiron  dinner.  He  made  a 
speech.  A  barnyard  rooster  never  goes  through 
that  experience  without  losing  his  tail  feathers.  A 
mere  prairie  phenomenon  would  have  been  ex- 
ploded. A  demagogue  would  have  been  found  out. 
Any  word  of  buncombe  would  have  made  the  grid- 
iron sizzle. 

"  A  new  man  has  arrived.  Cannon  saw  him  and 
jumped  across  the  table  to  greet  him.  Foraker 
wrung  his  hand.  Harry  New,  Republican  chair- 
man that  he  is,  ran  to  meet  the  man  coming  from 
Minnesota  to  greater  things.  Roosevelt-Taft  edi- 
tors like  Nelson  of  Kansas  City  pressed  around 
him.  And  as  for  Democrats — men  groaning  under 
the  Bryan  yoke  and  looking  for  deliverance  —  they 
fairly  went  wild. 

"  Here  is  a  Democrat  without  demagogy.  A 
leader  whose  head  is  not  in  the  clouds.  A  sober 
thinker  with  the  saving  grace  of  humor.  A  right- 
doer  whose  temperature  is  perfectly  normal.  A 
man  of  action  without  strenuosity.  A  young  man 
of  seasoned  judgment.  A  man  of  the  people  who 
looks  well  in  evening  clothes.     The  possessor  of 

174 


THE  FAMOUS  GRIDIRON  DINNER 

that  greatest  gift  of  the  gods,  sense  —  which  means 
judgment  and  taste  —  but  all  the  while  a  virile  son 
of  the  West  with  every  red  corpuscle  intact. 

"This  is  not  one  man's  enthusiasm;  it  is  the 
unanimous  verdict  of  a  set  of  men  trained  to  size  up 
other  men  and  cold-blooded  to  the  point  of  cynicism. 
The  Supreme  Bench  of  the  United  States  is  not  less 
subject  to  emotion  than  these  singed  cats  of  journal- 
ism. It  is  something  to  be  a  Democrat  who  is  a 
two  times  winner  in  a  strong  Republican  state,  but 
that  does  not  matter  so  much  to  them.  They  rub 
elbows  and  sit  at  meat  with  president,  cabinet 
ministers,  ambassadors  and  all  the  rest.  But  John 
Johnson,  modest,  self-poised,  keen  witted,  clear- 
minded  and  good  to  look  at  —  coming  to  Washing- 
ton with  an  official  record  behind  him  without  a 
flaw  at  a  time  when  every  eye  is  straining  for 
Democratic  timber  —  well,  they  all  think  he  will 
do." 


175 

12  /J 


CHAPTER  XIII 

CANDIDATE    FOR   THE   PRESIDENCY 

SCARCELY  had  the  shouts  of  triumph,  with 
which  Governor  Johnson's  smashing  second 
victory  was  received,  died  away  before  men  began 
to  whisper  that  here  was  presidential  material 
for  the  Democratic  Party.  Many  leaders  and 
editors  in  different  parts  of  the  country  almost 
simultaneously  began  to  talk  about  the  victory-get- 
ting young  governor  of  Minnesota.  One  of  the 
first  to  pin  his  faith  to  the  northern  vote-getter  was 
Mr.  J.  C.  Hemphill,  editor  of  the  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  News  and  Courier,  and  Mr.  Hemphill 
was  as  faithful  as  he  was  early.  From  the  moment 
he  began  to  urge  Governor  Johnson  he  was  con- 
stantly faithful. 

In  the  spring  of  1907,  Henry  Watterson,  the 
famous  editor  of  the  Louisville  Courier- Journal, 
took  up  William  J.  Bryan's  announcement  that  if 
the  Democratic  Party  could  find  a  man  who  stood 
true  to  the  guns  in  1896,  who  could  get  more  votes 
than   Mr.    Bryan   was   likely   to   get,   the   national 

176 


CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY 

Democratic  convention  should  nominate  him,  and 
announced  that  in  case  Mr.  Bryan  meant  to  decline 
the  Democratic  nomination,  he  could  name  the  man 
who  would  unite  the  party  and  probably  carry  the 
election.  "  And,"  continued  the  Colonel,  "  he  does 
not  live  east  of  the  Alleghanies  or  south  of  the 
Potomac  and  Ohio." 

At  once  there  was  a  great  flutter  of  curiosity 
throughout  the  country  as  to  the  identity  of  Henry 
Watterson's  "  dark  horse,"  as  he  came  to  be  desig- 
nated. At  length  it  came  to  be  understood  that  Mr. 
Watterson  had  in  mind  Governor  Johnson,  and 
finally  in  the  American  Magazine  for  October,  1907, 
Mr.  Watterson  said : 

"If  you  will  acquit  me  of  any  purpose  to  set  up 
for  an  oracle  or  to  pique  the  public  curiosity,  I  do 
not  mind  telling  you  that  it  was  Governor  Johnson 
I  had  in  mind.  Mr.  Bryan,  you  may  recall,  had 
declared  in  a  speech,  that  if  the  party  could  find  a 
representative  man,  who  might  get  more  votes  than 
he  was  likely  to  get,  it  should  make  him  its  pres- 
idential nominee.  Mr.  Bryan's  friends  were  every- 
where saying  that  he  did  not  desire  the  nomination. 
Upon  these  hints  I  spoke.  I  said  that  I  knew  of 
such  a  man  —  a  dyed-in-the-wool  regulation  Demo- 
crat, and  —  as  both  a  concession  and  an  answer  to 
Mr.    Bryan's    rather    proscriptive    requirements,    I 

177 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

added  that  he  did  not  live  either  in  the  despised  East 
or  the  ignored  South. 

"  I  did  n't  blurt  his  name  for  the  reason  that  in  the 
first  place  I  was  not  undertaking  to  play  Warwick 
—  I  wanted  Mr.  Bryan  to  play  Warwick  —  and 
second  that  any  suggestion  coming  from  me  would 
be  at  once  black-balled  by  that  very  considerable 
but  unthinking  body  of  extremists  and  visionaries 
who  seem  to  want  to  reduce  the  Democratic  Party  to 
Mr.  Bryan  and  themselves. 

"  There  are  myriads  of  Democrats  like  myself 
who  are  sick  and  tired  of  all  this.  We  are  not  un- 
friendly to  Mr.  Bryan,  though  we  reject  some  of 
his  gospels,  and  we  agree  that  the  campaign  of  1904 
was  in  many  ways  illogical.  We  would  have  done 
with  factionism. 

'  It  happens  that  I  have  known  Governor  John- 
son for  many  years,  and  have  watched  his  career 
with  interest.  He  is  a  most  exceptional  man,  both 
in  character  and  ability;  a  steady-going,  level- 
headed man,  who  thinks  first  and  acts  afterward;  a 
man  who  does  things  worth  doing,  nothing  vision- 
ary or  fantastic  about  him.  He  is  as  typical  Amer- 
ican in  his  personality  and  in  his  working  methods 
and  in  his  mental  processes  as  may  be  found  among 
the  rich  progeny  of  the  Scotch-Irish  to  which  the 
country    owes    so    much    of    Scandinavian    origin, 

178 


CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY 

next  after  the  Scotch-Irish  high  upon  the  racial 
honor-roll,  whence  we  have  drawn  so  many  of  our 
statesmen  and  soldiers.  That  means  that  he  could 
not  fail  to  prove  as  he  has  already  proven  a  great 
vote-getter.  He  has  not  been  mixed  up  in  any  fac- 
tion fight.  He  comes  from  the  right  quarter. 
Even  as  Lincoln  emerged  from  obscurity  to  take 
the  helm,  it  seems  to  me  that  this  man  might,  so 
like  Lincoln  in  his  simplicity  and  modesty  as  well 
as  in  his  hard  up-hill  antecedent  experience." 

Colonel  Watterson  never  retracted  this  estimate 
of  Johnson,  but  he  did  later,  after  Johnson  had  be- 
come a  recognized  candidate,  declare  that  the  "  dark 
horse  "  had  been  entered  too  late  to  get  the  nomina- 
tion in  view  of  Mr.  Bryan's  evident  disposition  to 
want  it  for  himself. 

In  fact  it  was  not  until  March,  1908,  that  Gov- 
ernor Johnson  could  be  considered  as  an  active  can- 
didate. For  months  he  and  his  friends  were  over- 
whelmed with  letters  and  delegations  and  visitors 
from  almost  every  state  in  the  Union,  urging  him 
as  the  one  hope  of  salvation  of  the  Democratic 
Party  to  become  a  presidential  candidate.  Various 
causes  are  assigned  for  the  delay  in  definitely  bring- 
ing Governor  Johnson  before  the  people.  In  the 
first  place  the  Governor  did  not  believe  himself  to 
be  of  presidential  calibre.     He  liked  and  admired 

179 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

Mr.  Bryan,  and  hated  to  think  of  himself  as  a  can- 
didate in  opposition  to  the  twelve-year  leader  of 
the  Democracy.  The  Governor's  friends  could  not 
persuade  him  to  get  into  the  race.  Besides,  some  of 
them  were  of  the  opinion  that  the  Governor  would 
have  a  better  opportunity  of  securing  a  nomination 
if  the  announcement  of  his  candidacy  were  made 
late  in  the  day.  Their  idea  was  that  had  the 
Governor  been  brought  into  the  field  a  year  or  nine 
months  before  the  convention  his  boom  would  wear 
itself  out  early  in  the  day.  It  was  found  out  later, 
however,  that  this  apprehension  was  not  justified, 
for  when  Governor  Johnson  was  formally  put  for- 
ward as  a  candidate  it  was  found  that  his  chances  in 
many  states  had  already  been  foreclosed,  owing  to 
the  prevailing  opinion  that  Mr.  Bryan  would  be  the 
only  candidate.  At  last,  however,  the  Democratic 
State  Central  Committee  of  Minnesota,  on  March  6, 
formally  sponsored  Governor  Johnson's  candidacy 
by  means  of  the  following  resolution : 

"  Governor  John  A.  Johnson  has  twice  brought 
victory  to  the  Democracy  of  Minnesota.  During 
his  incumbency  of  the  office  of  governor  more  re- 
forms have  been  instituted  and  more  remedial  legis- 
lations adopted  than  during  any  period  of  time  in 
the  history  of  our  state.  He  has  been  controlled 
only  by  the  public  interest.     His  mentality,  restless 

180 


I.   IN   THE  SHADE  OF  THK    WHITE   HOUsTj 


-VTto  tour- 


MINNEAPOLIS   JOURNAL 


POLITICAL,    CARTOONS 

181 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

energy  and  sound  judgment  united  with  his  unim- 
peachable integrity  make  him  the  embodiment  of 
the  best  spirit  of  the  West,  an  ideal  American 
citizen.  Confidently  believing  that  his  nomination 
as  the  candidate  of  the  party  for  the  presidency 
would  bring  to  our  support  the  electoral  vote  of  all 
the  states  east  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  thus 
secure  national  triumph,  we  respectfully  present  to 
the  Democracy  of  the  nation  the  name  of  the  Hon. 
John  A.  Johnson  as  candidate  for  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  recommend  the  Democrats  of 
Minnesota  that  they  cause  his  name  to  be  presented 
to  the  national  convention  at  Denver  for  nomina- 
tion." 

Even  then  Governor  Johnson  would  not  admit 
that  he  considered  himself  a  candidate.  His 
friends,  however,  were  determined  to  enter  him  in 
the  race,  and  immediately  after  the  state  committee 
had  adopted  the  resolution  above  quoted,  they  be- 
gan to  put  out  feelers  and  take  scouting  trips  to 
various  sections  of  the  country,  and  finally  on 
March  23,  Governor  Johnson  wrote  to  Swan  J. 
Turnblad,  publisher  of  the  Szve 'dish- American  Post 
of  Minneapolis,  in  response  to  a  letter  from  that 
gentleman,  saying: 

"  I  do  not  believe  that  any  American  citizen 
should  be  an  active  open  candidate  for  the  nomina- 

182 


CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY 

tion  to  the  presidency.  Matters  have  progressed 
so  far,  however,  it  seems  to  me  that  I  should  at 
least  say  in  answer  to  your  interrogation,  that  if 
the  Democratic  Party  of  the  nation  believe  me  to 
be  more  available  than  any  other  man  and  feel  that 
by  nomination  I  can  contribute  any  service  to  the 
party  and  to  the  nation,  I  should  be  happy  to  be 
the  recipient  of  the  honor  that  it  would  confer. 
I  am  not  unmindful,  however,  of  the  high  honor 
which  has  been  paid  me  by  the  people  of  Minnesota ; 
and  if  the  Democratic  Party  of  the  state  desires 
to  present  my  name  to  the  next  annual  convention 
I  am  sure  I  would  have  no  objection,  but  even  if 
Minnesota  should  be  the  only  state  to  declare  for 
me  at  that  time  I  should  feel  that  the  distinction 
was  one  of  the  greatest  that  could  come  to  me." 

Mr.  F.  B.  Lynch,  who  had  been  treasurer  of  the 
Democratic  State  Central  Committee  through  both 
of  Governor  Johnson's  gubernatorial  campaigns 
and  between  whom  and  the  Governor  there  had 
grown  up  a  very  intimate  friendship,  took  charge  of 
the  national  campaign  in  Governor  Johnson's  be- 
half, and  opened  headquarters  at  the  Grand  Pacific 
Hotel,  Chicago,  in  the  latter  part  of  March.  From 
that  time  on  an  energetic,  active,  organized  fight 
was  made  to  secure  Governor  Johnson's  nomination. 
At  first  the  effort  met  with  much  encouragement, 

183 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

and  only  those  who  were  intimately  associated  with 
it  know  how  near  it  came  to  success.  There  were 
several  occasions  when  the  result  really  trembled 
in  the  balance.  The  plan  of  campaign  of  the 
Johnson  managers  was  to  secure  the  greatest  pos- 
sible number  of  uninstructed  delegations  to  the 
Democratic  national  convention,  the  idea  being 
to  make  that  convention  a  body  of  genuine  dele- 
gated authority.  It  was  felt  that  a  convention  of 
unpledged  and  uninstructed  delegates,  calmly 
reviewing  the  field,  having  in  mind  the  best  interests 
of  the  party,  desiring  a  candidate  who  could  unite 
the  factions  and  who  would  probably  bring  success 
in  the  election,  would  choose  Governor  Johnson  as 
the  leader. 

The  effort  in  Governor  Johnson's  behalf  re- 
vealed the  fact  that  the  great  majority  of  the  party 
leaders  in  all  sections  of  the  country  felt  that  to 
nominate  Mr.  Bryan  for  a  third  time  would  invite 
defeat.  On  the  other  hand  most  of  the  leaders 
finally  came  to  the  conclusion  that,  in  view  of  Mr. 
Bryan's  attitude  and  evident  desire  for  a  third 
nomination,  there  would  be  so  many  irreconcilables 
among  his  followers  that  there  would  be  little  hope 
of  electing  even  so  popular  a  man  as  Governor 
Johnson.  So,  reluctantly  and  regretfully,  as  men 
giving  up  a  golden  opportunity,  they  gradually  gave 

184 


CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY 

their  support  to  Mr.  Bryan.  So,  some  weeks  be- 
fore the  Denver  convention  it  began  to  be  plain  that 
there  was  little  hope  for  Governor  Johnson's 
nomination.  State  after  state,  which  his  managers 
had  good  reason  for  believing  would  be  for  him, 
sent  delegations  instructed  for  Mr.  Bryan.  It 
was  determined,  however,  to  make  a  game  fight  for 
the  Governor  to  the  last,  and  the  contest  was  car- 
ried on  till  the  last  minute  at  Denver.  Over- 
whelmed and  without  hope,  Governor  Johnson's 
supporters,  headed  by  the  solid  delegation  from  his 
own  state,  stood  loyally  by  him  to  the  last.  They 
made  a  clean,  dignified,  earnest  campaign,  and 
sought  to  exclude  all  personal  bitterness.  They 
were  loyal  Democrats,  earnest  in  their  belief  that 
they  had  the  ideal  candidate  for  the  party  leader, 
but  were  not  there  to  rule  or  ruin.  Governor 
Johnson's  name  was  placed  before  the  convention 
by  Congressman  W.  S.  Hammond  of  Minnesota, 
who  had  twice  nominated  him  before  state  con- 
ventions, in  a  strong  and  dignified  speech,  at  the 
conclusion  of  which  the  Governor  was  given  a 
demonstration  of  personal  popularity  rarely,  if  ever, 
accorded  to  a  defeated  candidate.  For  more  than 
half  an  hour  the  great  auditorium  resounded  with 
the  cheers  of  the  Governor's  loyal  adherents. 
When  it  was  all  over  they  accepted  the  result  in 

185 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

good  spirit,  as  did  the  Governor  himself,  who  im- 
mediately telegraphed  Mr.  Bryan  as  follows : 

"  Please  accept  my  heartiest  congratulations  on 
your  nomination,  and  the  splendid  personal  victory 
which  it  implies.  You  will  have  no  more  earnest 
supporter  than  I,  and  I  hope  to  be  permitted  to 
contribute  to  your  success  and  that  of  the  party." 

In  the  state  campaign  Governor  Johnson  demon- 
strated his  loyalty  by  saying  in  his  speech : 

'  We  are  in  the  midst  of  one  of  the  most 
momentous  political  campaigns  in  the  history  of  our 
country,  made  so  by  reason  of  new  political  lines, 
by  reason  of  differences  in  the  various  political 
organizations,  and  because  of  the  peculiar  situation 
in  regard  to  platforms  and  candidates.  The 
Democracy  of  the  nation  and  state  come  to  you  in 
this  campaign  with  platform  and  candidates  which 
need  no  apologies.  In  fact  we  come  to  you  with  a 
national  platform  and  candidate,  which  in  our 
judgment,  challenges  comparison.  In  my  judgment 
there  has  never  been  in  the  history  of  American 
politics  so  wide  a  division  in  the  matter  of  political 
declarations  as  that  which  exists  between  those  of 
the  Chicago  and  Denver  conventions.  ...  In 
contradistinction  to  that  (Republican)  platform 
adopted,  we  ask  you  to  consider  the  platform 
adopted  by  the  Democratic   Party  at  Denver  —  a 

1 86 


CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY 

platform  that  has  not  been  challenged  successfully 
by  any  of  the  great  newspaper  organs  of  the  op- 
position, and  proud  as  we  are  of  our  platform  we 
come  to  you  with  just  as  much  pride  in  our  national 
leader,  W.  J.  Bryan.  You  must  admit  the  purity 
of  his  life,  the  earnestness  of  his  purpose  and  the 
dominant  fact  that  he  has  sought  for  what  he  be- 
lieves to  be  the  good  of  the  masses." 

The  direction  of  the  national  campaign  in  Minne- 
sota was  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  F.  B.  Lynch,  as  na- 
tional committeeman,  and  no  state  leader  gave  Mr. 
Bryan  more  loyal  support  than  Mr.  Lynch,  who  had 
been  Johnson's  pre-convention  manager. 

It  is  a  fact  that  the  result  at  Denver  was  not  the 
least  disappointment  to  Governor  Johnson.  He  had 
never  been  a  willing  candidate.  He  had  never  had 
any  confidence  that  he  would  be  nominated,  and  it 
had  been  almost  impossible  for  his  managers  to  get 
him  to  support  their  efforts  to  any  extent.  Time 
and  time  again  he  refused  to  accept  invitations  to 
speak  or  make  tours  that  could  be  construed  as 
being  in  the  interest  of  his  candidacy. 

Those  who  had  so  loyally  supported  Governor 
Johnson  for  president  were  not  cast  down  by  the 
defeat  at  Denver.  They  had  more  regret  on  ac- 
count of  the  party  than  on  account  of  the  Governor. 
They  felt  that  they  had  offered  the  party  a  candi- 

187 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

date  who  could  have  won  victory.  Then,  too, 
Governor  Johnson  was  a  young  man  and  four  years 
did  not  seem  long  to  them  to  wait.  The  Governor's 
wonderful  victory  in  the  state  contest  in  1908  added 
to  his  renown,  and  his  admirers  everywhere  felt 
that  it  was  practically  certain  that  he  would  be 
named  for  the  presidency  by  his  party  in  1912. 
Great  hopes  were  buried  with  him. 


188 


CHAPTER  XIV 

PRIVATE   LIFE 

GOVERNOR  JOHNSON  was  without  an 
overmastering  ambition.  This  is  not  the 
flattery  of  a  biographer  anxious  to  make  a  demi-god 
of  his  subject.  It  is  not  contended  that  he  was  un- 
mindful of  the  applause  of  the  multitude  or  con- 
temptuous of  power  and  distinction,  but  with  him 
one  thing  led  to  another.  He  had  no  permanent 
ambition  for  distinction,  no  lust  of  office.  He 
found  his  chief  enjoyment  in  private  life.  His 
wife,  his  books,  the  theater,  a  few  friends,  outdoor 
games,  fishing,  and,  latterly,  automobiling  were  his 
chief  engrossments.  His  wife  was  his  chum  and 
companion.  She  had  even  less  political  ambitions 
for  her  husband  than  he  had  for  himself.  She  was 
furious  over  his  third  nomination  for  governor  and 
with  vivid  indignation  accused  the  Governor's 
friends  of  a  conspiracy  to  nominate  him  against  his 
will! 

Baseball  was  one  of  the  Governor's  hobbies.     In 
his  youth  he  was  an  excellent  player  himself,  and 

189 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

once  deliberated  long  over  an  offer  to  enlist  as  a 
professional  ball  player.  He  followed  all  the  games 
of  the  big  leagues,  and  few  "  fans  "  in  America 
were  more  familiar  than  he  with  the  names  and 
records  of  the  leading  players  of  baseball.  He  was 
also  a  great  lover  of  football  and  rarely  missed  the 
games  played  by  the  University  of  Minnesota 
eleven. 

He  loved  nature  and  outings  in  the  fields  and 
woods.  It  is  characteristic  of  his  gentle  nature, 
though,  that  he  never  hunted.  He  could  see  no  en- 
joyment in  killing  bird  or  animal,  and  was  proud  of 
the  fact  that  he  had  never  killed  for  sport.  Yet  he 
was  extremely  fond  of  fishing — especially  trout 
fishing. 

Soon  after  his  third  election  as  governor  he  pur- 
chased an  automobile,  and  took  much  pleasure  in 
running  it  himself.  Only  a  short  time  before  his 
death  he  made  the  trip  to  St.  Peter  from  St.  Paul 
in  his  automobile.  The  roads  were  bad  and  the 
journey  was  very  tedious.  On  the  return  to  St. 
Paul,  though  far  behind  his  schedule  and  late  for  an 
engagement,  the  Governor  insisted  on  further  delay 
to  help  a  stranded  machine. 

The  theater,  especially  classic  drama  and  grand 
opera,  had  a  great  hold  on  Governor  Johnson.     He 

190 


MIIS.     JOHN    ALBERT    JOHNSON 


PRIVATE  LIFE 

and  Mrs.  Johnson  were  regular  attendants  at  all 
good  plays  to  be  seen  in  St.  Paul  theaters. 

The  Governor  abhorred  formal  banquets  and 
course  dinners,  but  he  was  at  his  best  with  a  few 
gathered  around  the  table.  He  was  a  zestful  diner, 
and  delighted  in  good  things  to  eat,  friends  to  talk 
with  and  a  fragrant  cigar  to  smoke.  Whether  it 
was  the  extreme  deprivation  of  good  things  in  his 
youth  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  when  he  was  able  to 
have  good  things  he  enjoyed  them  with  the  gusto  of 
a  boy.  As  a  conversationalist  he  was  at  his  best  at 
such  times.  He  liked  to  talk  of  men  and  events, 
indulge  in  reminiscences  and  tell  stories  of  real  life 
as  he  had  seen  it.  He  was  not  a  teller  of  stock 
funny  stories,  though  none  enjoyed  a  good  story 
more  than  he. 

Being  a  newspaper  man  he  always  had  a  fondness 
for  "  the  boys."  Many  of  his  appointees  were 
newspaper  men.  He  keenly  watched  the  local 
newspapers  of  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  and  would 
often  notice  and  comment  on  a  "  scoop."  The 
newspaper  men  had  the  run  of  his  office.  He  was 
always  accessible  to  them,  and  enjoyed  their  confi- 
dence to  such  an  extent  that  he  often  advised  with 
them  concerning  matters  that  were  not  ripe  for  pub- 
lication.    Sometimes  he  would  restlessly  stroll  into 

191 

13 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

the  press  room  in  the  capitol,  sit  on  the  corner  of 
the  table,  swing  his  legs  and  inquire ;  — "  Well, 
boys,  can  I  do  anything  for  you?  " 

Childless,  himself,  Governor  Johnson  passion- 
ately loved  children.  He  would  hardly  pass  a  child 
without  stopping  to  play  or  chat.  The  memory  of 
his  own  restricted  childhood  was  always  with  him 
and  prompted  him  to  take  every  opportunity  to 
brighten  the  life  of  any  child  who  came  his  way. 

One  day  a  small  lad  intent  upon  meeting  the  Gov- 
ernor, whose  life  story  had  fired  his  imagination, 
stood  in  the  corridor  of  the  capitol  and  asked  of 
every  man  who  passed : 

"  Please,  sir,  are  you  the  Governor?  " 

Most  of  the  legislators  and  officials  who  passed 
scarcely  gave  the  wistful  boy  a  glance  or  answer. 
His  lip  quivered,  but  he  stuck  to  his  post. 

A  tall  man,  with  a  smooth  face,  hurried  by,  and 
after  him  the  waiting  boy  sped  the  same  question. 
Quickly  the  big  man  turned  and  taking  the  child  by 
the  hand,  asked : 

"  What  do  you  want  to  do  with  the  governor?  '! 

"  I  want  to  shake  hands  with  him." 

"  And  who  are  you  ?  "  asked  the  tall  man,  with 
sympathetic  smile. 

"  I  am  Herman  Hauenstein,  of  New  Ulm." 

"  All    right,"    said    the    stranger.     "  You    come 

192 


PRIVATE  LIFE 

along  with  me,  and  I  will  take  you  to  the  governor." 
So,  taking  the  hand  of  the  little  fellow,  the  tall 
man,  took  him  down  the  corridor,  bought  him  some 
candy,  and  then  revealed  himself  as  the  governor, 
while  Herman  grinned  and  blushed  with  delight. 

In  each  small  boy,  the  Governor  saw  himself  of 
other  days.  He  knew  the  boys  —  and  because  he 
knew  boys  he  knew  men.  Perhaps,  in  giving  a  lift 
to  each  boy  who  came  his  way,  the  Governor  was 
doing  honor  to  the  memory  of  a  young  woman  from 
New  England  who  taught  him  his  letters  and  helped 
him  master  the  English  language  in  his  first  school 
in  St.  Peter.  She  first  noticed  John  because  of  his 
tendency  to  tardiness.  An  explanation  followed. 
The  boy  in  his  broken  English  explained  that  he  had 
to  get  up  at  five  o'clock  every  morning  to  carry 
water  and  help  his  mother  wash.  The  little  hands, 
red,  chapped  and  sore,  told  the  story  and  aroused 
infinite  compassion  in  the  teacher's  breast;  the  thin 
little  body  and  the  tattered  clothes  told  more.  From 
that  time  little  "  Yon  Yonson  "  had  special  personal 
attention  from  that  teacher.  After  school  hours 
she  gave  him  special  instruction  in  pronouncing  and 
reading  English. 

This  recalls  the  fact  that,  though  Swedish  was  the 
first  language  the  boy  learned,  the  schools  and  daily 
associations  early   made   English  his   favorite  lan- 

193 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

guage,  and  by  the  time  he  was  a  man  grown  he  had 
no  facility  in  the  use  of  Swedish,  though  he  could 
always  understand  it.  Even  when  addressing 
Scandinavian  audiences  he  was  compelled  to  use 
English. 

The  State  of  Minnesota  does  not  provide  an  ex- 
ecutive residence,  and,  being  without  children,  Gov- 
ernor and  Mrs.  Johnson  during  their  years  in  St. 
Paul  resided  in  apartments  in  a  family  hotel.  But 
a  few  months  before  his  death  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  reside  permanently  in  St.  Paul,  and  had 
purchased  a  home  at  586  Lincoln  Avenue,  He  had 
taken  much  pleasure  in  superintending  the  decorat- 
ing and  furnishing  of  the  new  home,  but  was  not  to 
live  to  occupy  it.  In  St.  Peter,  after  his  marriage 
he  rebuilt  and  enlarged  the  boyhood  home,  and  later 
built  a  small  modern  home  after  a  plan  that  Mrs. 
Johnson  had  clipped  from  a  magazine.  The  build- 
ing of  this  little  home  was  a  great  delight  to  the 
happy  couple,  and  they  passed  a  number  of  con- 
tented years  there  —  Mrs.  Johnson  "  doing  her  own 
work,"  becoming  a  famous  cook,  caring  for  her 
flower  gardens,  in  which  John  so  delighted  —  living 
the  sane,  simple  country  life  of  man  and  maid  hap- 
pily wedded.  In  those  good  days,  it  is  related, 
they  once  visited  St.  Paul  to  buy  some  fine  rugs  for 
their  little  home.     The  salesman  displayed  a  mag- 

194 


PRIVATE  LIFE 

nificent  Persian  rug,  which  captivated  John,  quite 
ignorant  of  rug  values.  Before  he  asked  the  price 
he  had  obviously  shown  his  preference.  "  Only  six 
hundred  dollars,"  said  the  salesman.  John  could 
not  have  been  any  more  surprised  if  the  salesman 
had  said  six  million  dollars.  "  Well,"  he  said,  "  if 
you  can  give  me  two  exactly  alike,  I  will  take  them." 

Governor  Johnson  was  not  a  business  man.  He 
had  little  liking  for  buying  and  selling.  Living 
modestly,  he  was  able  to  save  something  from  his 
salary  of  $7,000  a  year  as  governor. 

Governor  Johnson  was  for  many  years  very 
active  in  the  Presbyterian  church  at  St.  Peter  and 
was  an  occasional  attendant  at  church  after  coming 
to  St.  Paul. 

One  of  the  most  striking  characteristics  of  Gov- 
ernor Johnson  was  his  perfect  candor  and  lack  of 
dissimulation.  Interviewers  were  often  amazed  at 
his  frank  admission  of  ignorance.  He  never  made 
a  pretense  of  knowing  or  understanding.  He  was, 
through  his  frankness,  a  disappointment  to  many 
with  whom  he  would  have  stood  higher  had  he  re- 
sorted to  deceitful  devices.  He  did  not  pretend  to 
be  a  repository  of  knowledge  or  wisdom,  and  noth- 
ing amused  him  more  than  the  disappointment  of 
the  occasional  "  journalist  "  so  fresh  from  college 
that  he  did  not  discriminate  between  knowledge  and 

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JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

power,  when  he  found  that  there  were  scores  of 
names  of  modern  economical  and  sociological 
writers  of  whom  Governor  Johnson  had  never 
heard.  The  same  test  would  have  disqualified  Lin- 
coln. 

The  Governor  loved  the  simple,  the  true,  the  hon- 
est. The  simple  life,  as  he  saw  it  lived  by  an  old 
couple  at  Sarnia,  Ontario,  made  a  deep  impression 
on  him,  and  he  often  referred  to  these  good  folk  in 
his  conversation  and  at  least  once  in  public  —  a 
reference  that  gave  them  the  great  distinction  of 
their  lives.  In  that  speech  delivered  at  Detroit, 
May  3,  1908,  the  Governor  said: 

'  When  I  think  of  wealth  and  the  curses  that  go 
with  it  there  always  comes  to  my  mind  the  picture 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gibbs  of  Sarnia. 

'  I  met  them  during  a  tour  of  Canada  three  years 
ago  with  a  party  of  Minnesota  editors.  To-day  I 
have  forgotten  the  great  men  I  met,  the  statesmen 
who  strove  to  make  our  stay  in  Canada  an  enjoyable 
one,  but  always  to  my  mind  comes  the  memory  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gibbs. 

"  I  had  never  seen  a  peach  orchard,  and  when  we 
reached  Sarnia  and  was  told  that  the  fruit  grew  in 
abundance  about  the  town  I  expressed  a  desire  to 
see  an  orchard.  A  friend  drove  us  to  the  Gibbs 
homestead,  a  short  distance  from  town. 

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PRIVATE  LIFE 

"  The  old  gentleman  welcomed  us  at  the  gate,  was 
told  the  request  of  Mrs.  Johnson  and  myself,  and  in 
his  simple  way  expressed  his  gratification  at  our 
coming.  We  left  the  carriage  and  walked  around 
the  house.  But  he  would  not  start  for  the  orchard 
until  '  mother  was  there.'  She  was  as  sweetly  sim- 
ple as  her  husband,  and  like  children  we  all  wan- 
dered through  that  orchard,  the  boughs  laden  with 
the  luscious  fruit.  We  feasted  until  it  seemed  I 
should  never  wish  to  eat  again,  but  when  we  re- 
turned to  the  house  Mrs.  Gibbs  invited  us  to  '  stay 
to  tea.'  Now,  we  did  not  want  any  tea,  I  hardly  be- 
lieved I  could  drink  a  drop,  but  I  knew  that  if  we 
refused  they  would  be  heartbroken.  So  we  stayed 
and  further  enjoyed  their  hospitality. 

"  After  our  tour  through  Canada,  during  which 
prime  ministers  and  the  highest  statesmen  of  the 
government  did  us  honor,  we  returned  to  Sarnia  to 
embark  for  Duluth. 

"  I  was  hurrying  up  the  gang-plank,  a  suit  case  in 
either  hand,  when  an  old  gentleman  said :  '  Good- 
bye, sin'  '  Good-bye,'  I  said  without  turning.  But 
when  I  reached  the  deck  Mrs.  Johnson  called  me 
and  said :  '  There  are  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gibbs  down 
there  on  the  dock.'  Then  I  remembered  who  it  was 
that  had  spoken  to  me  and  I  hurried  down  to  shake 
their  hands. 

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JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

"  To-day  it  is  the  picture  of  the  sweet-faced  old 
couple,  happy  in  their  beautiful  home,  the  recipients 
of  God's  bounteous  gifts,  that  lingers  in  my  mind. 
I  can  see  them  hand  and  hand  in  their  peach  or- 
chard, passing  the  twilight  of  their  lives,  when  the 
heroes  and  master  men  of  their  land  are  to  me  but 
meaningless  names." 

Governor  Johnson  would  have  been  a  knight-er- 
rant had  he  lived  in  olden  times.  He  had  the  true 
American  devotion  to  and  respect  for  women.  He 
was  never  tainted  with  the  modern  idea  that  equal 
rights  for  women  mean  deprivation  of  privilege  for 
the  weaker  sex.  He  felt  that  women  were  entitled 
to  special  consideration  at  all  times,  and  that  it 
should  be  both  a  duty  and  an  honor  for  a  man  to 
protect  not  only  one  woman  but  all  women.  He 
was  most  considerate  of  all  the  women  and  delega- 
tions of  women  who  came  to  the  executive  offices. 
He  never  made  any  concealment  of  his  belief  in 
woman  suffrage,  and  yet  for  the  mannish  woman 
he  had  nothing  but  contempt.  It  was  doubtless  his 
chivalric  reverence  for  women  that  kept  his  life 
and  his  thoughts  so  pure.  He  never  had  any  pa- 
tience with  foul  stories  or  suggestive  allusions. 

John  A.  Johnson  was  a  success  in  private  life, 
quite  as  much  as  in  public.  The  spirit  of  human 
service  actuated  him  in  both  fields. 

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CHAPTER  XV 

AS    A    PUBLIC    SPEAKER 

GOVERNOR  Johnson  was  at  his  best  as  an 
extemporaneous  speaker.  The  stimulus  of 
the  necessity  of  saying  something  creditable  seemed 
to  open  reservoirs  of  thought  and  memory  that  were 
not  ordinarily  open.  Many  times  after  delivering  a 
part  of  a  set  speech  which  pleased  neither  him  nor  his 
auditors,  he  would  throw  away  his  manuscript  or 
forget  his  lines  and  plunge  into  an  extemporaneous 
talk  that  would  electrify  his  hearers.  He  could  not 
get  himself  into  what  he  carefully  prepared.  John- 
son's greatness  was  not  in  thought  but  in  personality, 
and  the  personality  disappeared  through  the  medium 
of  the  typewriter.  But  when  he  thought  as  he  spoke, 
he  became  to  the  public  what  he  was  to  his  friends, 
only  better,  because  the  inspiration  of  the  situation 
lifted  him  to  a  plane  of  eloquence  and  charm  that 
was  not  reached  in  the  ordinary  routine  of  his  life. 
He  was  amazingly  adept  at  saying  the  appropriate 
thing,  and  at  converting  some  little  incident  of  the 
day  or  the  occasion  into  the  theme  of  his  remarks. 

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JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

Thus  it  happens  that  the  best  speeches  he  made  are 
not  recorded.  There  was  no  manuscript  of  them, 
and  they  were  delivered,  for  the  most  part,  on  oc- 
casions when  there  was  no  stenographic  report  avail- 
able. But  where  such  reports  are  available  they 
are  found  to  be  disappointing.  The  reader  who  was 
auditor  does  not  find  in  the  record  all  that  he  got  in 
person. 

The  frank,  engaging  manner,  the  revealing  eyes, 
the  delightful  smile,  the  characteristic  gestures,  the 
rich,  resonant,  sympathetic  voice  are  not  recorded. 
All  these  established  a  sympathy  between  the  speaker 
and  the  audience  that  counted  for  more  than  was  said. 
He  seemed  to  be  able  to  suggest  thoughts  and  recol- 
lections and  flights  of  imagination  that  set  his  listen- 
ers aglow  and  gave  them  a  sense  of  satisfaction  and 
approval.     He  had  a  way  of  saying  rather  innocuous 
things  that  made  a  deep  impression  on  his  hearers. 
On  one  occasion  when  he  was  addressing  a  large 
audience,  the  electric  lights,  which  had  been  splut- 
tering and  dwindling  for  some  time,  finally  went  out. 
As  they  died  down  the  Governor  stood  with  uplifted 
hand,  looking  at  them,  and  as  they  ceased  he  stopped 
talking.     A  moment  later  the  lights  flashed  out  again 
with  the  Governor  still  standing  in  the  same  attitude 
of  command. 

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AS  A  PUBLIC  SPEAKER 

"  I  did  n't  think  I  could  do  it !  "  he  exclaimed,  and 
the  audience  laughed  and  applauded  as  if  he  had 
given  them  a  bon  mot  of  extraordinary  brilliancy. 

American  political  audiences  do  not,  as  a  rule, 
interrupt  speakers,  but  Governor  Johnson  was  very 
successful  in  parrying  attacks  made  on  him  in  that 
way.  On  such  occasions  the  conciliatory,  soft-man- 
nered Johnson  gave  way  to  the  hard-hitter.  One 
time  he  was  addressing  an  audience  on  the  wisdom 
of  direct  legislation.  He  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that 
every  voter  is  or  should  be  qualified  to  pass  directly 
upon  legislation  affecting  himself  and  the  public. 

"  Now,"  he  asked,  "  is  there  any  man  here  who  is 
prepared  to  admit  that  he  is  incapable  of  governing 
himself?" 

"  Here  is  one,"  yelled  a  man  in  the  rear  of  the 
hall. 

"  Well,  my  friend,"  said  Johnson,  "  over  in  my 
town  the  state  benevolently  supports  an  institution 
where  unhappy  unfortunates  like  yourself  are  ten- 
derly cared  for." 

Speaking  at  a  Jefferson  Day  banquet  in  Louisville 
in  1908  Governor  Johnson  made  a  speech  which  was 
most  enthusiastically  received.  He  was  tired  and 
listless  and  thought  himself  doomed  to  make  a  fail- 
ure.    A  minute  before  he   rose  he  did   not  know 

201 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

what  he  would  say.  Then,  happening  to  recall  one 
of  the  Louisville  ladies  he  had  met  during  the  day, 
he  began : — 

"  Kentucky  has  made  a  very  serious  impression 
on  me  more  than  once,  though  my  visits  to  this  great 
state  have  been  very  recent.  After  a  short  time  in 
my  incumbency  of  the  office  of  governor,  it  was  my 
great  good  fortune  to  entertain  in  the  capitol  of  our 
state  a  great  host  of  beautiful  and  brilliant  ladies 
from  the  commonwealths  of  the  country,  the  Feder- 
ation of  Woman's  Clubs.  After  the  delights  of  that 
evening  had  begun  to  pass  away,  I  began  to  think 
and  try  to  recall  the  various  persons  whom  on  that 
occasion  I  had  met,  and  I  came  finally  to  this  con- 
clusion :  I  remembered  particularly  three  of  the 
delegations  which  came  to  Minnesota  on  that  oc- 
casion, and  were  included  in  the  reception  at  the 
capitol  on  that  night.  One  was  the  Massachusetts 
delegation,  one  was  the  Texas  delegation,  and  one, 
God  bless  them,  was  the  Kentucky  delegation.  I 
remembered  the  Massachusetts  delegation  because 
they  were  intellectual  and  brilliant;  I  remembered 
the  Texas  delegation  because  they  were  as  handsome 
as  any  women  I  had  ever  seen,  and  I  remembered 
the  Kentucky  delegation  because  they  were  as  intel- 
lectual as  Massachusetts  and  as  handsome  as  Texas." 

Of   course    that    audience    of    Kentuckians    was 

202 


AS  A  PUBLIC  SPEAKER 

wildly  delighted.  They  clapped  their  hands,  cheered 
and  yelled.  The  effect  on  the  Governor  was  instan- 
taneous. He  was  inspired,  the  rest  was  easy,  and 
with  enjoyment  in  his  task  he  proceeded  easily  with 
a  speech  that  was  received  with  breathless  interest. 

Like  all  governors,  Governor  Johnson  was  called 
on  innumerable  times  to  make  speeches  at  conven- 
tions, and  all  kinds  of  gatherings,  local,  state  and 
national.  He  finally  got  to  a  point  where  most  of 
such  invitations  bored  him.  He  disliked  to  make  the 
"  welcome-to-our-city  "  talk  which  was  so  often  ex- 
pected of  him,  and  his  secretary  was  often  disturbed 
for  fear  the  Governor  would  give  offense  by  de- 
clining such  invitations  and  forgetting  some  that  he 
had  accepted.  The  Governor  was  aware  of  the  sec- 
retary's concern.  One  day  the  Governor  was  sched- 
uled to  welcome  some  fraternal  society  state  gath- 
ering. He  told  his  secretary  that  he  thought  he 
would  not  fill  the  engagement. 

"  But  you  have  promised." 

"Well,  telephone  them  that  I  can't  come,  if  you 
want  to,  but  anyway,  I  am  not  going." 

Soon  the  reception  committee  arrived.  The  Gov- 
ernor could  not  be  found  anywhere  in  the  capitol. 
The  secretary  was  wildly  excited  —  the  committee 
said  the  meeting  was  waiting.  He  rushed  to  the 
telephone,  called  up  the  hall  and  sent  word  to  the 

203 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

chairman  that  the  Governor  would  soon  be  there. 

And  at  that  very  moment  the  Governor  was  ad- 
dressing the  audience. 

One  kind  of  speaking  Governor  Johnson  delighted 
in  before  all  others.  He  loved  debates,  and  was 
never  quite  so  keen  and  full  of  life  as  when  taking 
part  in  a  public  discussion,  where  the  speakers  rise 
in  their  places  and  talk  at  each  other.  His  success 
in  this  kind  of  speaking  was  remarkably  demon- 
strated at  the  second  conservation  congress  at  Wash- 
ington, and  made  him  the  figure  of  central  interest 
there. 

Governor  Johnson's  fame  soon  made  him  in  great 
demand  as  a  speaker,  and  he  was  overwhelmed  with 
invitations  from  Maine  to  California.  Some  of 
these  he  accepted,  though  many  of  them  he  declined 
because  of  the  press  of  public  business.  But  he 
liked  these  opportunities  to  meet  non-political  audi- 
ences and  get  away  from  partisan  discussions.  He 
enjoyed  meeting  new  people  and  seeing  new  places. 
He  saw  in  this  work  an  opportunity  for  a  career 
after  he  had  retired  from  politics. 

Mr.  Charles  L.  Wagner,  the  well-known  lyceum 
manager,  who  arranged  Governor  Johnson's  lecture 
tours,  contributes  the  following  concerning  the  Gov- 
ernor's platform  experience : 

"  For  several  years  and  especially  the  year  pre- 

204 


AS  A  PUBLIC  SPEAKER 

ceding  the  last  campaign,  there  was  a  great  de- 
mand from  the  general  public  to  hear  men  of  the 
hour.  The  magazines  were  very  active  '  making 
men '  with  each  issue.  The  public  at  large  was 
clamoring  to  hear  them,  and  as  a  lyceum  manager 
I  was  very  anxious  to  satisfy  the  public.  Not  only 
for  financial  reasons,  either,  for  I  had  become  very 
much  interested  in  the  great  reform  work  that  was 
being  done  all  over  the  country  and  was  pleased  to 
note  a  general  awakening  of  all  classes.  The  de- 
mand for  public  men  came  first  from  the  rural  com- 
munities, where  people  have  time  to  read  everything, 
and  still  think  for  themselves,  instead  of  allowing 
their  favorite  newspaper  to  do  it  for  them  —  com- 
munities where  the  people  look  upon  a  series  of 
lectures  as  the  great  events  of  the  long  winter  sea- 
son and  where  the  Chautauqua  thrives  and  really 
becomes  as  intended  by  Dr.  Vincent,  the  great  Sum- 
mer School  of  the  common  people.  Such  men  of 
power  and  prominence  in  the  public  eye  as  the  Hon. 
Wm.  Jennings  Bryan  of  Nebraska,  Governor  J. 
Frank  Hanly  of  Indiana,  Gov.  Jos.  W.  Folk  of  Mis- 
souri, Senator  Robert  M.  LaFollette  of  Wisconsin, 
and  others,  had  led  the  way  in  the  lecture  field,  and 
after  his  second  great  victory  in  Minnesota  my  atten- 
tion was  called  to  Governor  John  A.  Johnson. 
I  had  first  become  interested  in  him  through  his  sad 

205 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

life's  story.  Then  a  talk  with  Mr.  Bryaa  con- 
vinced me  of  the  power  of  Johnson's  personality  — 
the  most  valuable  asset  a  public  speaker  can  possess. 
I  wrote  him  repeatedly  and  was  always  politely  but 
firmly  refused.  He  never  gave  any  particular  rea- 
son for  not  wanting  to  lecture  but  always  led  me 
to  understand  that  if  he  had  ever  thought  of  it  the 
time  had  not  yet  come.  Finally,  after  the  Hon. 
Henry  Watterson  placed  him  in  the  public  eye  as  a 
possible  Democratic  candidate  for  president,  I  again 
urged  him  to  lecture,  and  asked  for  a  personal  in- 
terview and  not  another  positive  refusal.  I  was 
delighted  to  be  summoned  to  St.  Paul  by  wire  and 
met  Governor  Johnson  for  the  first  time,  in  his  office, 
in  early  February,  1908.  We  covered  the  lyceum 
field  thoroughly  in  our  conversation  for  about  an 
hour  and  I  tried  to  prove  to  him  its  great  possibili- 
ties from  every  view  point.  The  public  believed 
Minnesota  had  a  great  governor  and  the  public 
wanted  to  hear  him.  Naturally  I  believed  in  satis- 
fying the  public.  Incidentally  I  told  him  of  a  re- 
mark Senator  Tillman  once  made  to  me;  that  a 
public  man  could  not  live  honestly  on  his  salary 
alone,  and  hence  was  forced  to  do  something  else 
unless  he  had  a  competence  to  live  upon  or  some 
other  source  of  revenue  beside  his  salary  as  a  public 
servant.     Lecturing,  at  this  time,  was  the  easiest 

206 


Copyright  by  Sweet 


CnVKUNOR    JOHNSON     AND     PRIVATK     SK<  "It  IOTA  l:  V     DAY 
IN     CONSI'DTATION 


AS  A  PUBLIC  SPEAKER 

and  best  way  to  make  money  enough  to  enable  a 
man  of  ideals,  and  of  high  purpose,  to  serve  his 
people  honestly  and  creditably.  I  felt  I  must  have 
Governor  Johnson  for  the  season  of  1908  and  1909 
and  I  presume  I  grew  somewhat  enthusiastic  over 
the  prospects  both  political  and  financial.  He  sat  at 
his  desk  for  fully  five  minutes  in  apparent  deep 
thought,  then  arose,  walked  around  and  sat  on  the 
edge  of  his  desk,  a  favorite  position  of  his,  as  I 
learned  during  later  visits.  With  a  smile  fairly 
illuminating  his  sad  face,  he  said :  '  Well,  I  guess 
it 's  "  up  to  me  " —  I  must  either  lecture  or  never  get 
rid  of  you.'  We  discussed  terms  and  I  told  him 
I  felt  he  was  worth  the  highest  price  that  was  being 
paid,  $200.00  a  lecture.  This  was  entirely  satis- 
factory. In  fact,  he  seemed  to  care  less  about  the 
financial  side  of  it  than  any  other  public  man  I  had 
ever  met,  though  he  saw  the  great  opportunity  of 
laying  aside  a  little  money  and  an  opportunity  for 
travel  after  his  term  of  governor  was  ended.  He 
told  me  then  he  was  not  a  presidential  candidate, 
simply  in  the  hands  of  his  friends  '  whom,'  he  added 
again  with  that  strange  sad  smile,  '  are  very  fond 
of  me  and  I  fear  over-estimate  my  strength  and 
ability.'  He  also  said  he  would  not  again  run  for 
governor  and  I  know  he  meant  it. 

"  Governor  Johnson  began  his  platform  work  with 

207 
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JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

a  lecture,  or  rather  a  talk  on  '  The  Majesty  of  the 
Law '  and  a  few  weeks  later  decided  to  add  another 
title,  '  Landmarks  of  Liberty.'  He  seemed  to  see  a 
wonderful  opportunity  in  the  lecture  field  and  made 
it  a  serious  matter,  showing  more  a  desire  to  do  good 
and  give  value  received,  than  to  simply  enlarge  his 
place  in  the  lime-light,  and  make  money  out  of  it. 
He  had  a  great  fear  of  not  being  able  to  give  the 
public  a  satisfactory  message  and  realized  that  he 
would  be  judged  by  other  men  on  the  platform.  At 
the  commencement  of  our  arrangements  he  said : 
'  If  I  fail  to  "  make  good  "  at  any  place,  if  I  feel 
the  audience  is  not  pleased,  or  the  committee  has 
lost  money,  and  I  will  know  it  if  it  so  happens,  I 
shall  go  quietly  to  the  committee  and  return  the 
fee.  You  will  not  lose  by  it.  I  will  send  on  your 
commission,  but  I  want  to  be  square  with  the  public, 
with  the  committees  and  with  you.' 

:<  I  was  surprised  to  find  how  much  he  knew  about 
the  lyceum  movement  and  in  the  course  of  our  con- 
versation he  told  me  he  had  once  managed  a  lecture 
engagement  in  his  home  town  of  St.  Peter,  for  our 
bureau.  The  attraction  was  the  Hon.  Henry  Wat- 
terson,  with  his  well-known  lecture,  '  Money  and 
Morals.'  It  seems  that  the  college  there  had  failed 
to  sell  enough  tickets  to  guarantee  this  lecture  and 
had  decided  to  drop  it.     So  great  was  Governor 

208 


AS  A  PUBLIC  SPEAKER 

Johnson's  desire  to  hear  Mr.  Watterson,  he  went 
from  store  to  store  and  sold  enough  tickets  to  guar- 
antee the  lecture.  Years  after  he  became  Watter- 
son's  famous  '  dark-horse.' 

"  From  the  beginning  of  our  arrangement  I  disa- 
greed with  the  Governor's  secretary,  Mr.  Frank 
A.  Day,  regarding  the  lecture.  Mr.  Day  felt  he 
should  take  time  to  write  a  lecture,  preparing  for  it 
thoroughly.  But  the  more  I  saw  of  Governor  John- 
son the  more  I  felt  certain  he  should  not  lecture  but 
simply  'talk'  to  his  public.  He  had  a  way  of 
always  saying  the  right  thing  and  was  always  the 
center  of  any  crowd.  Mr.  Day  and  I  clashed  on 
this  point  frequently  and  the  Governor  once  said : 
*  If  I  fail  to  prepare  an  address,  Frank  has  nervous 
prostration;  if  I  do  prepare  it,  you  have  it.'  I 
think,  howTever,  Mr.  Day  now  agrees  with  me. 
The  nearest  the  Governor  ever  came  to  failure  was 
with  a  prepared  lecture  at  Armour  Institute.  He 
saw  the  effect  on  the  audience,  which  was  largely 
one  of  students,  threw  aside  the  manuscript  after 
thirty  minutes  of  trying  to  interest  them,  gave  them 
his  usual  talk  and  the  evening  ended  in  enthusiasm. 
In  other  words,  he  put  himself  into  the  work  and  it 
landed  over  the  footlights.  He  was  a  most  win- 
ning personality,  and  he  was  always  at  his  best 
when  in  close  touch  with  the  public.     He  was  not 

209 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

an  orator,  he  always  spoke  in  a  conversational  tone, 
but  had  the  power  to  become  confidential  with  his 
auditors,  and  each  man  felt  he  was  receiving  a  per- 
sonal message.  I  do  not  mean  to  convey  the  im- 
pression that  Governor  Johnson  could  not  prepare  an 
especial  address;  he  could  and  did  on  many  an 
occasion.  But  a  lecture  was  quite  a  different  mat- 
ter, the  test  of  the  man  being  greater.  He  was 
given  an  hour  and  half  before  a  mixed  public  and 
in  that  hour  and  a  half  must  satisfy  hero  worship- 
ers, people  of  idle  curiosity,  and  people  who  fairly 
dared  him  to  '  make  good.'  In  each  town  he 
would  be  judged  by  that  one  appearance  and  the 
public  must  have  the  best  possible  view  of  him. 

"  His  first  lecture  was  given  at  Houghton,  Michi- 
gan, second  at  Detroit  and  the  next  night  I  heard 
him  at  Ann  Arbor,  where  his  success  was  the  most 
pronounced.  This  was  particularly  gratifying,  for 
the  University  of  Michigan  gives  its  students  the 
finest  course  of  lectures  available.  Men  who  sel- 
dom appear  on  the  platform  accept  the  invitation  to 
Ann  Arbor,  and  I  was  delighted  with  the  pronounced 
success  of  '  my  new  find.'  During  that  day 
Governor  Johnson  was  interviewed  by  Mr.  Lin- 
coln Steffens,  and  his  description  of  the  meeting 
was  most  interesting,  and  I  am  sure  Mr.  Steffens 
will  confess  that  after  it  was  over  he  was  as  much 

210 


AS  A  PUBLIC  SPEAKER 

interviewed  as  interviewer.  Governor  Johnson  had 
a  gracious  way  of  getting  the  best  out  of  the  other 
fellow  and  that  is  saying  a  great  deal  in  a  case  with 
Mr.  Steffens,  who  is  considered  one  of  the  best  men 
in  the  literary  world  to  '  find  out  things.' 

"  The  lecture  field  appealed  to  Governor  Johnson 
and  from  the  very  first  he  was  as  enthusiastic  as  a 
boy  with  his  first  pair  of  red-topped  boots.  He  en- 
joyed meeting  people,  he  felt  the  broadening  influ- 
ence of  this  non-political,  non-partisan  touch  with 
the  big  outside  world  and  looked  forward  to  a  year 
of  travel  and  talk  at  the  end  of  his  second  term. 

"  In  a  letter  to  me  as  early  as  March  30,  1908, 
he  wrote :  '  I  have  your  letter  giving  the  engage- 
ments made  for  Chautauqua  work.  These  meet 
with  my  concurrence  in  every  way  but  I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  it  would  not  be  wise  for  me  to  under- 
take any  more  engagements  for  the  summer  than 
you  have  already  arranged  for  me.  I  certainly  do 
not  want  to  discourage  you  in  the  splendid  work 
which  you  have  done,  and  which  has  been  far 
beyond  my  expectations;  but  in  view  of  my  visit 
to  Washington,  which  will  consume  a  week,  my  trip 
to  Shiloh,  which  will  consume  ten  days  more,  and 
my  visit  to  Lindsborg,  Kansas,  which  will  take  three 
days,  you  have  cut  out  enough  work  for  me  during 
the  summer  time  so  that  a  vacation  is  absolutely 

211 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

impossible.  I  shall  make  no  conditions  as  to  the 
work  next  year.  I  shall  be  willing  to  tread  the 
wine-press  as  often  and  continually  as  you  and  your 
patrons  deem  it  necessary.' 

"The  demand  was  so  great  for  Johnson's  ap- 
pearance that  over  one  hundred  applications  for 
lecture  dates  were  refused  during  the  coming  sum- 
mer. We  had  already  arranged  dates  through  our 
bureau  offices  for  the  coming  winter  season,  and  the 
bookings  finally  reached  the  enormous  sum  of  $30,- 
000.00,  a  tour  extending  from  Coast  to  Coast,  be- 
ginning with  scattering  dates  during  the  last  few 
months  of  his  second  term  as  governor,  and  then  a 
continuous  tour  from  January  5th,  1909,  to  May 
1st,  1909.  He  planned  then  to  go  to  Europe  with 
Mrs.  Johnson  for  the  months  of  May  and  June,  re- 
turning in  July  in  time  for  the  summer  Chautauqua 
work. 

"  I  shall  always  feel  that  had  this  programme  been 
possible  he  would  be  with  us  to-day  and  we  who  had 
been  honored  with  his  beautiful  friendship,  would 
have  our  friend ;  the  nation  would  still  have  another 
of  the  type  of  statesmen  it  needs  so  much  —  a  type 
which  is  rather  scarce  at  present.  But  it  was  not 
to  be,  and  he  had  nothing  to  do  but  accept  the 
inevitable. 

"  During  March  and  April,  1908,  Mr.  Lynch  con- 

212 


AS  A  PUBLIC  SPEAKER 

ducted  a  splendid  campaign  for  his  much-beloved 
friend  and  the  demand  to  hear  him  in  Chicago  was 
universal.  Invitations  poured  in  upon  him  and  one 
of  the  hospitals  wanted  him  for  a  benefit  in  Orches- 
tra Hall,  but  for  political  reasons  it  was  thought 
best  he  should  not  give  a  public  lecture  in  such  a 
strong  political  center  until  after  the  Denver  Con- 
vention. The  lady  in  charge  of  the  hospital  was 
the  kind  of  a  woman  to  whom  '  no  '  meant  noth- 
ing. She  had  made  a  sensational  and  therefore 
financial  success  of  the  lecture  by  Senator  Tillman 
the  previous  year,  and  feeling  that  Johnson  was  the 
man  the  people  now  wanted  most  to  hear,  she  per- 
sisted in  calling  upon  me  every  hour  by  'phone  or 
in  person  for  a  date  for  Governor  Johnson.  She 
even  met  him  on  his  way  through  town,  and  he  only 
escaped  a  positive  promise  to  come  through  friends 
coming  to  his  rescue,  and  his  hurried  assurance  that 
he  would  write.  In  a  letter  dated  May  7,  he 
says :  '  I  will  not  be  able  to  give  the  hospital 
lecture  at  this  time.     I  regret  this  very  much  indeed 

and  because  I  realize  how  insistent  Mrs. must 

have  been.     You  can  say  to  her  that  I  hope  to  give 
her    this    address    sometime      this    year.     . 
I   will  do  nothing  to  conflict  with  the  dates  you 
have    made    in    the    South    for    next    year.     As    I 
said  before,  I  am  willing  to  tread  the  wine-press 

213 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

freely  next  year.  I  am  looking  forward  to  it.' 
"  Our  contract  for  the  winter  season  to  follow 
was  made  subject  to  the  Denver  Convention.  In 
middle  June,  when  presidential  possibilities  were  an- 
nounced in  the  morning  papers,  dropped  in  the 
evening  issues,  and  forgotten  entirely  the  next  day, 
Mr.  Walter  Wellman,  in  the  Record  Herald,  an- 
nounced Johnson  for  vice-president.  As  a  part  of 
a  letter  on  business,  and  our  letters  were  always 
part  business  and  part  personal,  I  wrote  him :  '  I 
see  Wellman  is  announcing  you  for  vice-president. 
Don't  let  that  happen.  That  is  the  one  thing  the 
public  would  never  forgive.  If  you  cannot  be 
president  this  time,  they  will  need  you  four  years 
from  now.'  He  replied :  '  It  won't  happen,  I 
would  rather  lecture  for  you,  and  hope  nothing  will 
prevent  that.'  I  quote  this  to  show  he  did  not 
seriously  expect  to  try  to  procure  any  nomination 
at  Denver. 

"  The  Governor  was  very  conscientious  in  his  pub- 
lic speaking,  and  always  anxious  about  results. 
After  his  first  Chautauqua  appearance,  he  wrote :  '  I 
have  just  returned  from  Ottawa,  Kans.,  where  I 
had  a  delightful  day.  Had  an  audience  of  about 
4,000.  They  seemed  to  be  pleased  with  me.  I 
certainly  was  with  them.'  A  few  weeks  later, 
after  several  engagements  in  as  many  states,   he 

214 


AS  A  PUBLIC  SPEAKER 

wrote:  'I  had  a  very  delightful  week  and  spoke 
to  large  audiences  in  every  case.  I  certainly  had 
occasion  to  feel  pleased  with  my  reception  at  all 
the  places,  and  hope  that  the  public  were  as  well 
pleased  as  myself.  The  managers  and  patrons 
were  very  kind  in  their  comments,  and  so  I  have 
every  reason  to  believe  that  the  engagements  were 
satisfactory  from  both  sides.  I  would  be  very 
much  pleased  to  hear  from  you  at  any  time  should 
you  have  heard  from  them  directly.  If  at  any  time 
criticism  comes  to  you,  I  should  be  most  happy  to 
receive  that,  because  I  am  as  anxious  as  anybody 
to  build  this  lecture  into  one  which  will  be  emi- 
nently satisfactory.  I  feel  from  the  start  made, 
that  the  work  is  going  to  be  very  agreeable  in  every 
way.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  whole  situation 
pleases  me  much.' 

"  In  closing  a  letter  dated  July  ioth,  1908,  the 
Governor  says :  '  You  doubtless  have  already  been 
informed  of  the  Denver  Convention,  which  I  can 
confidentially  say  to  you,  is  perfectly  satisfactory 
to  me  in  its  action.  I  have  accustomed  myself  to 
look  forward  to  next  year's  work  with  a  great  deal 
of  pleasure  and  delight,  and  now  nothing  can  possi- 
bly interfere  with  it.' 

"  In  late  July  he  writes  enthusiastically  of  his 
lecture  tour,  which  even  the  Denver  Convention  did 

215 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

not  interrupt.  From  Oklahoma  he  sends  word: 
'  I  have  had  a  perfectly  delightful  time  down  here 
during  these  few  days,  although  two  appearances 
daily,  with  night  travel,  has  made  it  quite  a  task.  I 
have  found  a  fine  lot  of  people;  learned  many 
things,  and  have  certainly  got  as  much  out  of  the 
people  in  this  section  as  they  have  got  out  of 
me.'  The  demand  for  him  in  the  Southwest  had 
been  so  great  that  we  had  to  book  him  twice  a  day 
and  his  success  was  so  unusual  that  every  town 
without  a  single  exception  asked  for  return-dates 
the  following  summer. 

"  By  this  time  the  political  situation  in  Minnesota 
became  critical  —  very  critical  to  our  lecture  bureau. 
A  race  for  the  third  term  as  governor  was  urged 
upon  Johnson  and  he  had  repeatedly  refused.  We 
had  a  year's  engagements  booked  ahead  and  it  was 
certainly  a  serious  matter.  He  was  the  main  at- 
traction in  150  lecture  courses,  and  every  committee 
began  to  quake  and  each  quake  gave  our  bureau  a 
jar.  A  telegram  asking  me  to  meet  him  came,  and 
at  that  meeting  we  decided  there  was  but  one  thing 
to  do;  cancel  three  engagements  to  give  him  time 
to  get  back  to  St.  Paul  to  prevent  his  own  nomina- 
tion. After  a  day  at  home  he  wrote,  under  date  of 
August  19:  'I  was  sorry  indeed  to  have  to 
cancel  those  engagements  but  it  was  imperative,  and 

216 


AS  A  PUBLIC  SPEAKER 

even  now,  after  all  I  have  clone  and  after  all  my 
positive  declarations,  it  appears  this  morning  that 
they  were  all  futile,  and  that  the  Democratic  Party 
in  convention,  this  afternoon,  proposed  to  nomi- 
nate me  in  spite  of  all  my  protest  and  all  my  dec- 
linations. I  have  never  been  in  a  situation  so 
embarrassing  as  this,  and  have  never  been  in  one 
which  has  brought  me  more  real  grief.  I  appreci- 
ate the  great  compliment  my  Democratic  friends 
are  bestowing  upon  me,  yet  nothing  they  could  do 
would  be  more  disagreeable  to  me  than  to  renomi- 
nate me  for  this  office.  I  have  repeatedly  informed 
them  that  I  would  not  accept  the  place  if  nominated, 
and  felt  bound  by  that  declaration,  but  even  that 
does  not  seem  to  be  of  any  particular  avail.  The 
whole  thing  has  made  me  very  unhappy  indeed.  I 
had  considered  the  future  absolutely  settled,  and 
was  so  delighted  with  the  prospect,  that  this  new 
arrangement  staring  me  in  the  face  disconcerts  me 
very  much.  I  still  hope,  however,  to  avoid  the 
nomination.  I  shall  leave  here  Thursday  night  for 
Hillsboro,  Ohio,  to  resume  the  tour,  passing  through 
Chicago  Friday,  when  I  shall  certainly  drop  in  to 
see  you.'  He  was  nominated,  finished  his  Chau- 
tauqua tour  September  first  and  plunged  into  a 
heavy  campaign.  We  were  forced  to  cancel  all 
October  lecture  engagements,  several  of  which  he 

217 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

particularly  wanted  to  fill.  He  wrote :  '  It  would 
be  a  great  political  mistake  to  fill  any  dates  just  be- 
fore the  election,  even  were  I  physically  fit,  and  I 
find  I  must  cancel  the  dates  for  early  November.  I 
have  just  gone  through  the  most  strenuous  cam- 
paign in  my  experience,  having  made  up  to  date 
more  than  one  hundred  speeches,  some  of  these  be- 
ing in  tents  and  in  the  open  air.  My  voice  is  abso- 
lutely gone  and  I  am  scarce  able  to  dictate  this 
letter  to  you.  I  have  been  obliged  to  cancel  a 
speaking  engagement  which  I  had  made  for  the 
last  three  days  of  the  campaign.  The  contest  here 
has  been  a  hard  one  indeed.  I  have  had  the  oppo- 
sition of  most  all  the  metropolitan  papers,  the  great- 
est political  organization  I  have  ever  had  to  contend 
with,  and  in  addition  to  these,  every  great  corpora- 
tion, including  the ,  whose  officers  have  spent 

money  like  drunken  sailors,  and  who  have  used 
every  means  at  their  command  to  encompass  my 
defeat.  The  fight  on  my  side  has  been  made 
single-handed  and  alone;  that  is  to  say,  by  my- 
self and  by  my  few  official  and  personal  friends. 
I  think  we  have  whipped  the  enemy;  but  this  will 
be  determined  in  a  few  days.  Many  times  dur- 
ing this  contest  I  have  found  myself  almost  hop- 
ing that  I  would  lose  the  fight  in  order  that  I 
might  get  into  our  lecture  business  next  year.     Of 

218 


AS  A  PUBLIC  SPEAKER 

course,  my  sober  judgment  told  me  I  was  wrong 
in  any  such  conclusion  as  that,  and  when  my  sober 
senses  again  took  possession  of  me,  I  went  into  the 
fight  with  more  vigor  than  ever.  I  realized  that  the 
victory  this  year  under  the  circumstances,  and 
against  the  combined  opposition  of  almost  every 
potent  element  in  this  state,  will  be  the  most  phe- 
nomenal thing,  not  only  in  my  political  experience, 
but  in  the  history  of  American  politics.  I  am  al- 
most in  a  state  of  nervous  collapse  and  prostration.' 
"The  morning  after  the  election  I  wired  him: 
'  Congratulations  under  protest ;  I  almost  wish  you 
had  been  defeated.'  He  replied:  'Sometimes  I 
almost  feel  as  you  do,  but  once  in  the  fight  —  and 
you  know  how  it  came  about  that  I  was  in  —  I 
simply  had  to  win.  The  result,  of  course,  is  very 
gratifying  and  if  you  knew  all  the  circumstances 
connected  with  the  contest  here  in  Minnesota,  you 
would  appreciate  the  magnitude  of  the  victory.' 
Following  the  election  he  attended  a  great  home- 
coming at  St.  Peter.  His  illustrious  fellow-towns- 
woman,  Madame  Olive  Fremstad,  of  the  Metropoli- 
tan Opera  Company,  was  also  a  guest  on  this  occa- 
sion, and  I  have  always  regretted  not  attending  that 
affair.  He  wrote  me :  'I  want  to  introduce  you 
to  my  people  as  the  man  who  made  me  lecture.'  I 
know  many  of  his  friends,  and  all  those  who  op- 

219 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

posed  him,  had  objected  to  his  lecture  tours,  and  it 
had  been  made  a  campaign  issue.  So  it  would  have 
been  a  great  joy  to  me  to  tell  them  they  were  sub- 
jects for  congratulations,  for  having  at  last  one  man 
great  enough  so  that  the  other  states  wanted  to  see 
him  and  hear  him.  Johnson  now  belonged  not  to 
one  state,  but  to  the  nation. 

"  His  health  forbade  filling  most  of  the  November 
and  December  bookings,  and  in  January,  1909,  the 
legislature  was  again  in  session  and  he  was  needed 
at  home.  The  people  all  over  the  country  were 
clamoring  for  him  to  fill  his  engagements.  It  was  a 
sad  and  serious  day  for  the  bureau  and  for  this 
popular  governor.  He  wrote  once :  '  I  have  a 
nervous  chill  every  time  I  see  a  letter  from  a  com- 
mittee.' 

"  He  felt  more  than  unusual  regret  in  canceling 
his  New  England  tour.  He  had  planned  to  take 
Mrs.  Johnson  with  him,  anticipating  a  great  deal  of 
pleasure.  He  knew  that  New  England  was  not  a 
prosperous  lecture  field,  and  that  booking  a  lec- 
ture at  a  large  fee  in  Boston  was  to  a  bureau  an 
unusual  event,  so  he  felt  sure  that  they  wanted 
him  and  he  was  anxious  to  go.  New  Eng- 
land committees  were  not  very  patient,  for  as  soon 
as  they  found  there  was  some  doubt  as  to  his  com- 
ing, they  wanted  him  more  than  ever.     Had  they 

220 


AS  A  PUBLIC  SPEAKER 

known  the  real  state  of  his  health  as  I  knew  it,  I  am 
sure  they  would  have  been  more  patient. 

"  One  man  who  had  several  engagements  arranged 
was  inclined  to  be  unruly,  ridding  his  system  of  his 
anger  in  violent  letters,  both  to  the  Governor  and  to 
the  bureau.     Gov.  Johnson  wrote,   under  date  of 

Dec.  28th :     '  I  trust  Mr.  will  be  able  to  see 

the  matter  in  its  proper  light.  I  notice  that  he  has 
said  to  you  that  they  would  only  consider  Mr.  Bryan 
as  a  substitute  for  me.  Can  you  not  possibly  secure 
Mr.  Bryan  to  fill  the  dates  ?  This  certainly  would  be 
a  happy  solution  of  the  situation,  because  of  the  in- 
definiteness  of  the  future.  I  notice  they  threaten  suit 
and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  and  because  of  this  fact  I 

have  written  Mr. ,  asking  him  to  send  me  a  bill 

of  what  he  thinks  would  cover  the  actual  loss.  I  real- 
ize that  it  is  most  unfortunate  that  the  matter  has 
come  as  it  has,  and  no  one  has  felt  the  gravity  of 
the  situation  more  keenly  than  myself,  but,  as  I 
wrote  them,  it  is  physically  impossible  to  do  any 
public  work  now.  Besides,  conditions  have  arisen 
here  which  I  am  sure  will  make  it  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  me  to  stay  in  St.  Paul  practically  every 
day  during  the  legislature  and  give  attention  to  my 
official  duties.' 

"  But  even  the  newspaper  accounts  of  his  physical 
inability  to  even  read  all  of  his  own  message  to  the 

221 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

legislature  did  not  satisfy  committees.  To  add  to 
his  troubles  Mrs.  Johnson  became  ill,  was  in  the 
hospital  at  Rochester  for  weeks,  and  so  the  season 
wore  on;  thousands  of  people  who  had  hoped  to  see 
and  hear  this  popular  man  were  doomed  to  disap- 
pointment. At  no  time  did  he  want  to  leave  the 
state  or  neglect  his  duties  as  governor,  but  he  felt 
obligated  to  the  people  at  large  for  plans  that  had 
been  made  a  year  ahead  and  had  been  forced  aside 
by  his  reelection. 

"  He  filled  quite  a  few  engagements  during  the 
summer  season  of  1909,  and  delivered  his  last  lec- 
ture August  29th,  at  Urbana,  Illinois,  Chautauqua. 

'  The  more  I  saw  of  Governor  Johnson  the  more 
I  thought  him  a  really  great  man  —  a  man  of  the 
Lincoln-mold,  always  simple  and  direct,  with  a 
face  sad  in  repose,  a  sense  of  humor,  fascinating  as 
it  was  irresistible,  a  smile  that  was  a  benediction. 
He  was  as  full  of  enthusiasm  as  a  boy  of  twelve  and 
during  the  time  when  Mr.  Lynch  wanted  him  to 
meet  prominent  political  friends  in  Chicago,  just 
prior  to  the  Denver  Convention,  he  surprised  us  all, 
and  I  fear  gave  some  alarm,  by  carrying  me  off  to  a 
baseball  game.  I  liked  this  true  test  of  his  great- 
ness; he  was  big  enough  to  play  occasionally.  I 
have  often  been  asked  if  I  thought  him  '  presiden- 
tial timber,'  and  I  reply:     'He  would  have  been.' 

222 


Copyrigni  Dy  MofEett 


Copyright  by  Sweet 


Copyright  by  Sweet  Copyright  by  MofTett 

PORTRAITS    OF    GOVERNOR    JOHNSON 


AS  A  PUBLIC  SPEAKER 

He  was  one  of  those  rare  men  who  step  into  public 
life  only  once  in  a  generation,  a  man  who,  Lincoln- 
like, would  be  equal  to  any  task  given  him,  even 
though  he  had  made  no  especial  showing  in  that  di- 
rection before. 

"  He  was  not  a  '  lime-light  player,'  to  use  a 
slangy  theatrical  phrase,  which  a  long  lyceum  ca- 
reer has  found  useful.  He  was  modest  and  retir- 
ing. He  always  wanted  to  know  people,  but  did 
not  care  to  be  known.  He  did  not  care  for  demon- 
stration in  his  honor,  but  was  always  appreciative 
of  any  attention.  I  had  to  urge  upon  him  the  great 
necessity  of  notifying  his  committees  in  advance  of 
his  coming.  He  replied :  '  I  took  it  as  a  matter 
of  course  they  would  expect  me  unless  they  heard 
to  the  contrary.  I  simply  governed  myself  accord- 
ing to  the  time-card  you  furnished  me.  However, 
if  it  is  necessary  I  will  wire  them  train  and  time  of 
arrival.' 

"  He  was  often  a  good  mixer,  and  often  rode  on 
trains  for  hours,  conversing  with  men  who  never 
even  guessed  his  identity.  Last  summer,  while  on 
a  Pullman  en  route  to  an  Iowa  town  to  lecture  at  a 
Chautauqua,  he  was  talking  insurance  with  some 
fellow  travelers.  Three  young  college  students 
joined  the  circle.  They  found  him  a  most  enthusi- 
astic advocate  of  insurance,  and  they  even  went  so 

223 
is 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

far  as  to  accuse  him  of  being  an  insurance  agent. 
One  of  the  students  said :  '  You  're  the  best  ever ; 
you  will  try  and  write  us  up  before  we  leave  the 
train.'  Judge  of  their  surprise  as  the  train  stopped 
at  the  crossing,  a  mile  out  from  the  Iowa  destina- 
tion. Two  members  of  the  local  committee  came 
in,  one  offered  his  hand,  and  presented  his  friend 
to  Governor  Johnson!  The  boys  were  speechless, 
and,  with  a  merry  smile  of  '  Good-bye,'  Johnson 
said:  'If  you  ever  come  to  St.  Paul,  boys,  come 
over  to  the  capitol  and  I  will  write  you  up  for  sure.' 
And  he  left  the  train  amid  the  cheers  of  a  large 
crowd  who  awaited  his  coming. 

"  He  was  always  ready  for  fun  and  took  a  great 
chance  at  being  severely  criticised  and  certainly  mis- 
understood. During  the  Hearst  Presidential  Con- 
vention at  Orchestra  Hall,  Chicago,  Governor  John- 
son wired  me  to  meet  him  at  the  station,  for  he 
had  a  three  hours'  wait.  I  suggested  in  the  spirit 
of  fun  that  we  attend  the  Hearst  convention. 
'Wonder  if  we  would  be  discovered?'  he  asked. 
The  session  had  begun,  so  we  took  the  chance,  and 
enjoyed  the  greatest  discord  our  famous  music  hall 
had  ever  heard.  He  was  not  discovered,  but  I 
tremble  to  think  of  what  might  have  been!  I  saw 
glaring  headlines  in  my  dreams  for  a  week  to  come. 

"  I  saw  Governor  Johnson  for  the  last  time  at  his 

224 


AS  A  PUBLIC  SPEAKER 

closing  lecture  in  Urbana.  He  had  stood  the  sum- 
mer well.  He  was  full  of  life  and  hope  and 
seemed  to  feel  sure  of  a  successful  outcome  of 
the  hospital  experience  which  was  to  follow- 
within  a  fortnight.  On  the  train  coming  back  to 
Chicago  we  met  Mr.  Bryan.  Until  that  day  they 
had  not  met  since  the  campaign,  and  I  am  sure 
it  was  the  meeting  of  friends.  Mr.  Bryan  left  us 
at  Kankakee  and  we  came  on  to  Chicago.  Governor 
Johnson  talked  most  of  the  time  enthusiastically  of 
the  future.  I  was  planning  a  trip  West  with  a  re- 
turn via  the  Canadian  Pacific.  The  Governor  had 
made  that  trip  during  the  summer  and  wrote  out 
notes  for  me  of  his  journey,  giving  places  to  see  and 
people  to  meet.  He  died  while  I  was  on  this  trip. 
The  news  came  when  I  was  almost  in  sight  of  Mt. 
Hood,  a  mountain  he  loved  so  much,  standing  there, 
'  on  a  throne  of  rocks,  in  a  robe  of  clouds,  with  a 
diadem  of  snow.'  He  was  with  me  in  spirit  all 
through  the  great  Northwest  —  for  he  was  a  gen- 
uine product  of  that  Northwest  —  all  the  way  back 
through  the  mighty  mountain  ranges  of  Canada, 
'  where  rolls  the  Oregon  and  hears  no  sound,  save 
its  own  dashings.'  I  recalled  his  appreciative  de- 
scription of  Glacier,  in  the  mighty  Selkirks,  stand- 
ing out  against  the  cold  Canadian  sky,  towering 
above   all   others,    imperishable   as   his    fame.     He 

225 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

was  a  real  son  of  the  soil  —  the  magnificent  type 
of  man  that  has  made  this  wonderful  Empire  of  the 
Northwest.  He  early  heard  its  call  and  heeded  it 
He  could  truly  say : 

"  These  are  my  people,  this  is  my  land 
I    feel  the  throb  of  its   secret   soul, 
This  is  the  life  I  understand, 
Savage  and  simple,  sane  and  whole." 

"  He  was  the  most  fearless  factor  in  Minnesota's 
great  political  struggle.  Since  Lincoln,  there  has 
been  no  gentler  memory  of  our  times/' 


226 


CHAPTER  XVI 

JOHNSON   AND   THE   TIMES 

GOVERNOR  JOHNSON  was  a  true  child  of 
the  age.  He  was  in  touch  and  sympathy 
with  the  universal  unrest  that  characterizes  the  be- 
ginning of  the  twentieth  century.  He  took  the 
world  optimistically,  as  it  is,  but  he  knew  that  it 
was  a  world  about  to  be  remade.  Never  did  he 
think  that  the  evolution  of  mankind  and  of  human 
relation  and  organization  had  culminated.  He 
looked  forward  to  the  abolition  of  war  and  the 
reign  of  universal  peace,  as  between  nations,  and 
he  believed  that  in  a  coming  time  human  society 
would  be  so  reconstructed  that  every  man  would 
have  a  full  chance  and  a  "  square  deal."  As  a  rule, 
successful,  self-made  men  are  inclined  to  think 
that  the  present  organization  of  society  is  well- 
nigh  perfect.  It  seems  to  them  that  what  they 
have  done  others  can  do.  Johnson  never  under- 
estimated the  value  of  talent  and  energy  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  this  earth's  goods,  but  he  firmly  be- 
lieved that  under  the  present  system,  there  is  too 

227 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

much  privilege,  too  much  scope  for  chance  for 
those  who  are  equipped  for  the  fray,  and  little  or  no 
chance  for  those  lacking  in  equipment.  He  be- 
lieved that  democracy  had  but  begun  its  work,  that 
with  all  our  progress  the  great  mass  of  humanity 
has  not  yet  a  fair  chance.  He  admired  the  suc- 
cessful, but  he  was  compassionate  for  the  unsuccess- 
ful. He  knew  full  well  the  slight  difference  be- 
tween the  two.  But  his  patient  nature  taught  him 
to  be  prepared  for  a  long  wait  for  the  golden  age. 
He  knew  how  slowly  through  the  centuries,  inch 
by  inch,  mankind  has  struggled  forward,  and  he 
had  no  thought  of  allowing  himself  to  be  soured 
or  dejected  by  the  birthright  of  wrong  and  misfor- 
tune and  vice  that  he  saw  all  around  him.  He  ap- 
preciated the  importance  of  the  point  of  view,  of  the 
attitude  of  the  human  unit  toward  life  in  makine 
for  happiness  or  unhappiness.  A  favorite  saying 
with  him  was :  — 


"  This  world  is  not  so  bad  a  world  as  some  would  like  to 

make  it. 
But   whether   good,    or   whether   bad,    depends   on   how   you 

take  it." 


Socialism  never  appealed  to  him,  because  it  in- 
volved a  program  —  and  Johnson  had  a  horror  of 
reform  programs.     He  was  at  one  with  the  genius 

228 


JOHNSON  AND  THE  TIMES 

of  the  English-speaking  race,  which  is  always  chiefly 
concerned  with  the  problem  in  hand.  He  believed 
in  reducing  the  ancient  citadel  of  wrong  and  in- 
justice, by  taking  it  apart  and  gradually  building  a 
new  edifice  to  take  its  place.  He  understood  the 
overwhelming  conservatism  of  the  bulk  of  mankind, 
the  imposing  human  inertia  old  as  the  ages,  which 
is  ever  the  despair  of  the  wholesale  reformer.  He 
believed  in  making  haste  slowly  in  reforming  legis- 
lation, because  he  knew  that  in  no  other  way  could 
effective  reforming  be  done.  Yet  he  would  take  up 
individual  reform  measures  of  the  most  highly 
radical  nature,  and  stoutly  champion  them  —  as, 
for  instance,  the  initiative  and  referendum.  And 
he  believed  that  the  people  must  be  ever  active  to 
hold  what  they  gain,  and  to  gain  what  they  have 
not.  The  battle  of  reform  must  always  be  waged 
vigorously,  he  held,  but  it  must  be  fought  according 
to  human  nature.  Thus  it  was  that  Johnson  was 
often  correctly  classed  as  a  radical-conservative, 
paradoxical  as  that  sounds.  He  was  radical  in  his 
ideals  and  his  objectives,  but  conservative  in  his 
undertakings.  Yet  Johnson,  himself,  had  little  of 
the  racial  conservatism.  He  was  always  ready 
for  the  new  and  better.  He  was  a  genuine  demo- 
crat of  democrats.  He  hated  pretension,  snobbery, 
aristocracy.     He  believed  in  men,  and  cared  noth- 

229 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

ing  for  external  trappings.  This  belief  worked  out 
in  him  a  curious  contrast.  He  was  modest  and  dif- 
fident, and  yet  he  had  such  a  good  opinion  of  him- 
self as  a  free  born  American  citizen  that  he  would 
not  have  fawned  or  cringed  to  anyone  for  any 
favor  —  and  he  detested  any  cringing  by  others  to- 
wards him. 

In  politics  Johnson  attached  more  importance  to 
men  and  measures  than  to  parties.  His  first 
marked  interest  in  politics  was  as  a  champion  of 
Samuel  Tilden  to  his  boyhood  comrades.  His  next 
great  personal  political  attachment  was  to  James  G. 
Blaine,  and  it  was  in  that  period  of  hero  worship 
that  he  was  considered  a  Republican.  Later  in  life 
he  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
and  he  never  permitted  his  own  party  affiliations  to 
stand  between  him  and  expressions  of  admiration 
for  Roosevelt,  though  he  thought  that  a  republic 
could  easily  have  too  much  of  such  a  man.  Yet  he 
was  a  man  utterly  unlike  Roosevelt  He  would 
have  been  a  strictly  constitutional  president,  and  yet 
he  would  have  accomplished  things  and  had  the  peo- 
ple with  him.  He  considered  that  the  historic  devo- 
tion of  the  Democratic  Party  to  states'  rights  was  no 
anachronism.  Conceding  that  changing  conditions 
have  made  necessary  national  action  where  formerly 
state  action  was  sufficient,  and  admitting  that  con- 

230 


JOHNSON  AND  THE  TIMES 

stitutional  construction  may  be  very  broad,  Johnsom 
nevertheless  maintained  that  the  modern  tendency 
was  to  load  the  federal  government  up  with  work 
that  it  could  not  properly  do.  He  believed  that  the 
only  way  to  maintain  democratic  institutions  is  to 
keep  the  people  working  the  machinery  and  exer- 
cising themselves  in  the  use  of  authority.  The 
more  done  at  Washington  the  less  done  at  home; 
the  more  political  exercise  for  congress  the  less  for 
the  constituent.  In  other  words,  he  believed  that  a 
government  as  much  decentralized  as  consistent 
with  nationhood  and  national  efficiency  was  the 
surest  pledge  of  popular  liberty. 

It  was  the  tariff  that  made  him  a  Democrat,  and 
he  never  for  a  moment  thought  that  the  tariff  ques- 
tion was  settled  in  America.  He  believed  that  there 
was  an  intimate  connection  between  our  high  tariff 
system  and  the  great  commercial  combinations  and 
monopolies,  and  he  believed  also  that  the  excesses 
of  high  tariff  had  corrupted  the  nation.  The  tariff 
system,  as  he  saw  it,  resulted  in  the  enrichment  of 
the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many  by  a  sort  of 
legalized  but  unrighteous  transfer  of  wealth.  He 
understood  the  seeming  menace  of  the  great  cor- 
porations as  well  as  anyone,  but  he  considered  that 
so  long  as  the  high  tariff  wall  stood  to  protect  do- 
mestic extortion  against  foreign  competition    much 

231 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

anti-combination  legislation  was  about  as  effective 
as  Canute's  royal  will  in  staying  the  tide.  The  in- 
flated, unearned  prosperity  that  rose  up  behind  the 
tariff  wall,  Governor  Johnson  regarded  as  largely 
responsible  for  the  reign  of  graft.  Had  he  been 
raised  to  the  presidency  he  would  have  been  an  ad- 
vocate of  tariff  reduction  to  a  straight  revenue  ba- 
sis. His  conception  of  the  importance  of  the  tariff 
question  is  here  given  in  his  own  words :  — 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  the  slogan  of  the  Demo- 
cratic Party  in  the  next  campaign  and  in  every  suc- 
ceeding campaign  until  the  question  is  settled  should 
be  a  revision  of  the  tariff.  A  most  thorough  re- 
vision, mind  you,  for  it  is  on  this  point  that  I  disa- 
gree with  the  President  of  the  United  States.  I 
believe  that  the  tariff,  more  than  any  other  cause, 
has  a  direct  bearing  on  the  trusts,  and  places  a  bur- 
den, direct  and  indirect,  upon  the  people,  benefiting 
no  general  class  and  productive  of  good  only  to  a 
privileged  few." 

Living  in  a  northern  border  state,  tariff  discus- 
sion naturally  caused  Governor  Johnson  to  think  of 
Canada  not  a  little.  He  thought  that  what  might 
be  called  our  tariff  treatment  of  Canada  amounted 
to  criminal  folly.  He  believed  in  continental  free 
trade  — "  the  peaceful  consolidation  of  the  conti- 
nent from  Panama  to  the  Arctic  Circle."     This  pro- 

22,2 


JOHNSON  AND  THE  TIMES 

gram  did  not  necessarily  mean  the  annexation  of 
either  Canada  or  Mexico.  He  would  have  estab- 
lished free  trade  from  the  Canal  to  the  polar  re- 
gions, and  left  the  question  of  political  integrity  to 
care  for  itself.  He  believed  that  a  correct  attitude 
toward  Canada  on  the  tariff  question  during  the  last 
half  century  would  inevitably  have  led  to  the  union 
of  the  two  countries.  All  things  considered,  he 
would  have  judged  that  advisable,  though  he 
saw  some  common  benefits  arising  from  the  main- 
tenance of  two  independent  democracies  in  North 
America.  The  main  thing,  to  his  mind,  was  that 
these  people,  essentially  American,  essentially  the 
same,  should  have  the  blessings  of  free  and  unre- 
stricted commerce.  He  fully  understood  the  poten- 
tialities of  Canada,  especially  western  Canada. 

Governor  Johnson  was  a  keen  conservationist. 
He  attended  President  Roosevelt's  first  conference 
of  governors  and  also  the  second.  At  the  first  were 
almost  all  the  governors,  at  the  second  were  only  a 
few.  The  Governor  made  it  plain  that  he  was  for 
conservation,  not  as  a  politician,  but  as  a  man,  as  a 
citizen.  Speaking  at  the  second  conference,  he  said 
at  one  time :  — 

"  My  own  opinion  is  that  proper  conservation 
consists  in  the  proper  exploitation  and  proper  de- 
velopment, rather  than  to  discontinue  use,  as,  for  in- 

233 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

stance,  in  Sweden,  where  the  amount  of  iron  ore 
that  can  be  mined  is  limited  to  5,000,000  tons  a  year. 
We  want  all  those  things  to  use,  as  we  need  them, 
but  we  must  properly  exploit  and  develop  them.  If 
the  work  is  to  be  done  it  must  be  done  scientifically. 
It  has  always  been  my  opinion  that  this  problem  is 
not  a  politician's  problem  at  all,  but  that  it  is  an  en- 
gineer's problem.  I  realized  this  morning,  as  I 
looked  at  this  conference,  and  as  I  have  watched  it 
from  the  time  I  came  into  this  room,  that  the  poli- 
tician is  going  to  eliminate  himself  from  this  con- 
servation work,  and  that  the  plodder,  the  man  of 
whom  the  President  spoke  yesterday,  using  him  as 
a  type  of  man  who  sits  at  his  desk  and  works  over- 
time without  any  pay  or  any  hope  of  ever  getting 
any,  is  the  man  who  will  have  to  take  it  up  and  carry 
it  on. 

"  I  remember  at  the  conference  last  spring  at  the 
White  House  all  the  governors  of  states  were  there 
who  could  be  present.  Some  of  them  came  in  to 
look  over  the  premises  to  see  whether  it  was  really, 
after  all,  a  desirable  place  to  live  at  some  time  in  the 
future.  Having  satisfied  their  curiosity,  a  great 
many  of  them  are  not  here  now." 

"  Yoj  are  still  here,"  someone,  interrupted. 

"  And  always  will  be,"  answered  the  Governor, 
"  011  such  an  occasion." 

234 


JOHNSON  AND  THE  TIMES 

"  Many  of  the  conferees,"  he  continued,  "  having 
met  in  the  White  House  were  satisfied  with  one  ex- 
perience, and  then  the  politician,  having  satisfied  the 
public  as  to  himself,  and  having  satisfied  himself  as 
to  the  public,  left  the  work  to  go  to  someone  else  — 
and  there  is  not  that  manifestation  of  interest  that 
was  displayed  a  little  while  ago,  but  it  is  going  to 
grow  just  the  same.  This  movement,  if  I  under- 
stand it,  is  bigger  than  the  conferees,  it  is  bigger 
than  the  conference,  it  is  bigger  than  the  govern- 
ment, it  is  bigger  than  the  nation  itself.  I  am  of 
the  opinion  that  we  shall  all  live  to  see  the  day  when 
history  will  write  it  into  its  pages  as  the  greatest 
achievement  in  the  record  of  the  nation's  present 
chief." 

At  both  of  the  conferences  Governor  Johnson 
laid  much  stress  on  sane  conservation,  the  conserva- 
tion of  use  as  opposed  to  the  conservation  of  hoard- 
ing. He  had  some  apprehension  that  the  movement 
might  go  to  an  absurd  extreme,  that  would  deprive 
the  nation  of  the  full  use  of  its  resources. 

Returning  to  Minnesota  from  the  second  confer- 
ence, the  Governor  undertook  to  put  into  practice  in 
his  state  the  idea  of  conservation  of  resources.  He 
recommended  to  the  legislature  the  creation  of  a 
new  state  bureau  or  department  in  which  should  be 
centralized  the  control  of  the  public  lands,   forests 

235 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

and  mines,  that  they  might  be  wisely  administered, 
used  and  conserved.  He  reinforced  his  recommen- 
dation by  the  interesting  statements  that  through 
lack  of  a  proper  conservation  policy  one  iron  mine 
worth  $15,000,000  was  lost  to  the  state  and  that  the 
state  timber  losses  by  fire  and  trespass  would 
amount  to  enough  to  pay  all  the  expenses  of  the 
state  for  a  generation. 

Patriotic  as  he  was,  Governor  Johnson  was  not 
a  jingo  and  was  opposed  to  over-sea  expansion. 
He  disliked  the  cultivation  of  the  military  spirit, 
viewed  with  apprehension  the  tendency  continually 
to  increase  the  strength  of  the  standing  army,  but 
believed  in  a  powerful  and  efficient  navy  so  long  as 
other  countries  were  intent  upon  building  up  great 
armadas.  He  regretted  the  decline  of  the  Amer- 
ican merchant  marine,  but  was  opposed  to  efforts  to 
rehabilitate  it  by  means  of  subsidies.  He  thought 
that  the  right  kind  of  navigation  laws  would  accom- 
plish the  purpose.  He  believed  in  a  federal  income 
tax. 

As  to  the  perplexing  question  of  the  great  corpo- 
rations and  combinations,  he  was  disposed  to  hold 
that  they  were  the  natural  outgrowth  of  economic 
forces,  and  that  while  their  abolition  by  law  was 
impossible  they  should  and  could  be  subjected  to 
such  rigid  control  as  would  make  them  servants  of 

236 


JOHNSON  AND  THE  TIMES 

the  common  good.  He  was  opposed  to  state  owner- 
ship of  railways  but  advocated  the  municipal  owner- 
ship of  public  utilities. 

In  the  course  of  his  five  years  in  the  governor's 
office,  traveling  widely,  attending  many  important 
national  gatherings,  he  met  many  of  the  big  men  of 
the  nation.  He  warmly  admired  Governor  Hughes, 
of  New  York,  whom  he  considered  an  ideal  type  of 
public  servant.  He  was  a  warm  admirer  of  W.  J. 
Bryan,  and  that  admiration  was  not  quenched  by 
the  presidential  contest  —  in  fact,  he  was  genuinely 
reluctant  to  permit  his  name  to  be  used  against  Mr. 
Bryan  in  that  contest.  He  formed  opinions  and  es- 
timates of  the  great  men  he  met,  which  were  not 
always  those  held  by  the  general  public.  He  liked 
to  analyze  them  and  seek  out  the  explanation  of 
their  greatness,  and  his  intimates  were  often  enter- 
tained by  character  studies  of  the  famous  men  he 
had  met.  In  securing  from  Andrew  Carnegie  large 
financial  assistance  for  Gustavus  Adolphus  College 
at  St.  Peter,  and  later  at  the  conservation  confer- 
ences at  Washington,  the  Governor  became  rather 
intimately  acquainted  with  the  "  iron  master,"  and 
the  latter's  preference  for  Governor  Johnson  was 
very  marked.  He  made  no  secret  of  his  belief  that 
the  Governor  was  of  presidential  material  and  pos- 
sibility. 

237 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

It  would  not  tally  with  the  facts  to  say  that  Gov- 
ernor Johnson  was  profoundly  learned  with  respect 
to  the  great  problems  of  the  day.  His  fnind  was 
not  given  to  detail  in  study  or  thought.  This  was 
a  defect  resulting,  possibly,  from  the  brevity  of  his 
routine  education.  He  had  little  training  as  a 
student.  His  reading  had  never  been  carefully 
planned.  He  read  omnivorously  and  absorbingly, 
but  not  as  a  student.  The  laborious  massing  of 
facts  he  was  content  to  leave  to  those  who  were 
equipped  for  the  task.  They  could  supply  the  am- 
munition, but  there  was  a  field  for  men  of  action 
who  could  pick  out  the  salient  facts  and  supply  the 
energy  and  the  leadership  for  the  conflict. 


2?S 


CHAPTER  XVII 


PERSONALITY 


TALL,  lean,  sinewy,  angular,  nervous  in 
movement,  Governor  Johnson,  for  all  his 
foreign  blood,  was  of  the  American  type.  Deep 
lines,  radiating  from  the  eyes,  were  one  of  the  most 
notable  facial  peculiarities.  They  were  at  once  sig- 
nificant of  character  and  a  badge  of  honor;  for 
they  had  been  deepened  by  moral  and  physical 
suffering  borne  with  all  the  uncomplaining  patience 
of  the  Stoics.  These  lines,  too,  were  indicative  of 
qualities  of  shrewdness  and  intense  observation, 
which  were  part  and  parcel  of  temperament  and 
habit.  He  was  looking,  learning,  listening,  every- 
where, all  the  time.  He  had  wonderful  eyes,  of 
clear  blue-gray;  eyes  full  of  sympathy  and  kindness, 
but  eyes  of  penetration  and  search.  No  pretense 
could  pass  undetected  and  unscathed  the  intense 
scrutiny  of  his  directly  aimed,  concentrated  regard. 
The  voice,  full-toned,  resonant,  manly,  supple- 
mented the  glance.  It  won  all  who  did  not  succumb 
to  the  winning  eyes,  and  the  ingenuous  smile,  which 

239 


16 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

somehow,  seemed  to  tell  the  Governor's  vis-a-vis 
that  he  was  being  curiously  examined,  weighed  and 
estimated  behind  that  good-natured  face.  Just  as 
it  was  impossible  for  him  to  conceal  his  own  nature, 
so  it  seemed  impossible  for  another  to  conceal  his 
true  nature  from  the  Governor.  In  talking  to  him, 
you  felt  that  whatever  you  really  were,  known  or 
unknown  to  yourself,  this  man  of  the  kindly  voice 
and  the  sympathetic  eye  would  arrive  at  an  exact 
estimate  of  you. 

Because  of  his  furrowed  face,  his  angularity,  his 
height  (over  six  feet),  his  slight  stoop,  the  lurking 
sadness  of  the  face  in  repose,  and  the  tragedies  o\ 
his  boyhood,  Governor  Johnson  was  often  likened 
to  Lincoln.  Their  sympathetic,  tolerant  attitudes 
toward  the  world  added  to  the  likeness.  Each  had 
found  the  world  sad,  but  each  dearly  loved  to  laugh. 
Johnson,  however,  differed  from  Lincoln  in  the 
exuberance  of  his  spirits.  He  took  a  lively  delight 
in  play  and  in  living;  his  sensations  were  never 
blunted;  life  was  always  fresh  to  him,  he  never 
experienced  lasting  ennui. 

"  He  loved  men,  revered  women  and  adored 
children."  Thus  did  one  of  the  newspaper  editorial 
writers,  picturing  his  character  a  day  or  two  after 
his  death,  summarize  much  of  the  truth  about 
Governor   Johnson.     It   was   at   once   tribute   and 

240 


PERSONALITY 

explanation.  That  one  in  public  life  could  occupy 
toward  his  fellow-beings  the  position  implied  in  this 
pregnant  remark,  accounted  in  large  measure  for  the 
powerful  hold  which  the  Governor  had  obtained 
upon  all  who  were  interested  in  and  observed  him, 
whether  from  personal  contact  or  from  repute  at 
a  distance.  All,  young  and  old,  trusted  him. 
None  ever  regretted  the  trust,  for  he  was  always 
true.  Fidelity  and  steadfastness  informed  all  his 
friendships.  He  was  ever  the  firm  friend,  the  sym- 
pathetic and  charitable  adviser.  He  seemed  to  have 
taken  into  his  inmost  heart  and  adopted  as  a  rule 
of  guidance,  the  splendid  principle  enunciated  by 
Pope . — 

"  Help  me  to  feel  another's  woe, 
To  hide  the  faults  I  see; 
The  mercy  I  to  others  show, 
That  mercy  show  to  me." 

To  assist  others  in  every  possible  way  was  as 
natural  to  him  as  breath-taking.  He  remembered 
the  plain  girls  at  the  dances  in  old  St.  Peter,  and  he 
did  not  forget  the  weak  and  helpless  when  he  was 
governor.  As  he  was  leaving  St.  Peter  to  assume 
his  gubernatorial  duties  a  tiny  girl  friend  petitioned 
him :  "  When  oo  get  all  froo  being  governor  will 
oo  come  back  here  again  and  play  wiv  me?'1 
When,  on  that  sad  day,   his  body  was  carried  to 

241 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

the  capitol  to  lie  in  state  a  little  girl  pushed  her 
way  between  the  stalwart  soldier  guards  to  beg 
to  be  allowed  to  look  at  the  face  of  the  "  kind,  tall 
man  who  gave  me  candy  almost  every  day." 

Governor  Johnson  was  possessed  of  a  remarkably 
even  nature.  He  was  never  known  to  indulge  in 
an  outburst  of  rage.  On  the  rare  occasions  when 
he  did  become  angry,  the  only  outward  symptoms 
were  a  transient  paleness  and  a  nervous  plucking 
at  his  finger  tips. 

He  was  full  and  bubbling  over  with  sentiment, 
practical  as  his  views  of  life  were,  and  the  human 
sorrows,  miseries  and  tragedies  that  came  before 
his  attention  were  suffered  by  him  in  some  measure 
as  if  they  were  his  own.  He  was  so  human  that  all 
human  woes  seemed  to  be  his  by  sympathy. 
Thomas  Lawson  tells  elsewhere  how  he  moved  an 
audience  to  tears  by  his  account  of  an  exercise  of 
the  pardoning  power.  The  incident  itself  is  worth 
relating  for  its  pathos. 

Came  one  day  to  the  governor's  office  a  young 
woman,  sad-faced  and  with  a  look  as  of  one 
haunted. 

'  Governor  Johnson,"  she  said,  "  I  am  a  liar. 
For  five  long  years  I  have  lied  to  my  children,  lied 
to  hide  their  father's  weakness  and  sin  from  them. 
I  have  told  them  over  and  over  again  that  father  is 

242 


PERSONALITY 

far  away  on  business,  and  that  some  day  he  will 
come  back  to  them.  And,  oh,  how  those  children 
long  for  their  father.  And  now,  at  last,  I  have 
promised  the  children  that  their  father  will  be  home 
at  Christmas  time.  Oh,  Governor,  I  have  lied  so 
many  times  for  their  sake  and  his,  help  me  to  make 
the  promise  come  true." 

The  husband  and  father  was  in  prison  for  em- 
bezzlement, and  the  pardon  board  had  referred  the 
application  for  pardon  to  the  Governor.  Every 
particle  of  that  poor  woman's  misery,  the  Governor 
felt  himself.     Only  one  answer  could  he  give. 

"  Madam,  you  shall  lie  to  those  children  no  more. 
Your  husband  shall  spend  Christmas  with  them,"  he 
stammered,  and  when  his  secretary  entered  the 
office  a  few  minutes  later  the  tears  were  still  stream- 
ing down  that  kindly  face. 

There  was  a  strong  poetic  vein  in  the  Governor's 
composition.  Nobody  can  read  certain  passages 
of  his  writings,  notably  his  holiday  proclamations, 
without  noticing  this,  but  he  kept  it  in  strict  abey- 
ance, probably  from  prudential  motives,  realizing 
that  the  cold  world  looks  askance  upon  him  of 
poetic  temperament. 

Patriotism  was  a  passion  with  Governor  Johnson. 
He  loved  America,  with  all  her  faults,  even  as  Walt 
Whitman   did.     He   had   the    fullest   confidence   in 

243 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

the  American  people,  believed  with  all  his  soul  in 
'  the  invincible  republic,"  looked  to  her  to  redeem 
humanity,  and  was  superbly  confident  that  she 
would  triumph  soon  or  late  over  all  foes,  foreign  or 
domestic.  And  yet  this  man  was  the  son  of  immi- 
grants. What  a  wonderful  and  compelling  answer 
to  all  who  fear  the  humble,  hopeful  peasants  that 
throng  to  America  from  all  lands!  Some  of 
Governor  Johnson's  best  traits  were  undoubtedly 
due  to  his  Swedish  blood  —  such  as  his  freedom 
from  anger  and  irritability,  his  patient,  uncomplain- 
ing endurance  in  suffering  and  in  all  manner  of 
adversity,  his  unflagging  devotion  to  duty.  His 
were  the  most  sterling  attributes  of  the  Scandi- 
navian race,  plus  the  energy,  optimism  and  success- 
winning  characteristics  of  Americanism.  In  him 
were  blent  the  best  of  the  Old  World  and  the  New. 
A  memorial  speaker  observed  that  the  dead 
governor  performed  small  duties  as  though  they 
were  great  ones.  This  was  literally  true.  Every- 
where —  in  office  and  home  —  he  was  methodical 
and  painstaking,  though  his  nature  was  easy-going. 
All  the  details  of  domestic  as  well  as  business  and 
official  life  were  reduced  to  a  system  of  scientific 
invariableness  and  accuracy.  He  was  prompt  and 
punctual  and  performed  the  most  trifling  duties  at 
the  proper  time.     But  outside  the  line  of  duty,  he 

244 


PERSONALITY 

let  his  love  of  ease  have  its  way.  He  refused  to 
be  overwhelmed  by  the  duties  of  office  or  deprived 
of  the  pleasures  of  private  life. 

"  The  Great  Governor,"  as  the  people  loved  to 
call  him,  was  an  intense  lover  of  books.  Reading, 
and  the  best  sort  of  reading,  was  a  passion  with 
him,  and  he  had  the  advantage  of  a  very  retentive 
memory.  He  had  in  the  highest  degree  the  editorial 
faculty  of  getting  instantly  at  the  heart  of  an  article 
or  book,  no  matter  how  voluminous.  Even  Daniel 
Webster  did  not  surpass  him  in  this  knack,  so 
useful  to  the  publicist,  no  less  than  to  the  plodding 
newspaper  man.  He  was  thus  from  wide  reading 
and  retentive  memory  able  on  many  occasions  to 
correct  loose  and  reckless  statements  of  men  whose 
educational  advantages  had  far  exceeded  his  own. 

To  his  newspaper  training  as  well  as  to  a  natural, 
ready  comprehension,  the  Governor  owed  his  ability 
to  "  stage  up  "  any  situation,  to  grasp  intelligently 
any  legal  or  administrative  proposition,  no  matter 
how  complex  and  difficult.  So  quick  was  he  in 
arriving  at  an  understanding  of  any  case  in  hand, 
and  so  ready  in  forming  a  wise  conclusion,  that  one 
would  suppose  that  he  had  made  a  life  study  of  the 
particular  branch  of  knowledge  under  which  the 
pending  problem  fell.  Therefore  when  the  at- 
torney-general, the  insurance  commissioner  or  any 

245 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

of  the  officers  of  the  state  government  had  occasion 
to  confer  with  the  Governor  on  some  unusual  and 
important  subject,  there  was  no  necessity  for  elabo- 
rate explanation,  no  exhaustive  or  exhausting  ex- 
penditure of  words.  Johnson  always  saw  the  point 
at  a  glance.  No  one  ever  had  reason  to  apply  to 
him  the  rebuke,  his  namesake,  the  lexicographer  and 
literary  dictator  of  the  eighteenth  century,  once 
administered  to  a  questioning  dullard :  "  Sir,  I  can 
give  you  information,  but  I  can  not  supply  you 
with  an  understanding."  The  Governor's  mind 
was  given  to  traveling  faster  than  that  of  the  person 
he  was  conversing  with.  He  foresaw  what  the 
other  man  was  going  to  say,  and  often  restrained 
himself  with  much  difficulty  from  finishing  the 
statement  himself,  but  he  was  a  model  listener. 

Governor  Johnson  was  deeply  religious.  The 
world  was  always  wonderful  to  him,  and  from  his 
wonder  he  always  turned  to  the  eternal  question : 
"What  does  it  all  mean  —  Whence  does  it  all 
come  ?  '  As  the  years  went  by,  he  found  no  special 
creed  worth  while,  though  he  believed  in  the 
churches  and  the  work  of  the  churches.  But  with 
an  implicit  faith  in  an  all-controlling  Goodness 
and  Greatness  there  was  for  him  the  religion  of 
daily  life. 

"  I  believe,"  he  often  said,  "  that  if  I  try  to  do 

246 


PERSONALITY 

right  I  shall  have  all  the  essential  attributes  of  a 
man." 

If,  as  the  poet  says,  "  He  prayeth  best  who 
loveth  best  all  things  both  great  and  small,"  Gov- 
ernor Johnson's  prayers  were  piled  deep  around  the 
Throne  of  Mercy.  He  was  at  peace  with  his  God. 
He  went  into  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death, 
knowing  full  well  the  chances,  but  with  the  peace 
of  one  who  fears  not  and  trusts  much. 

His  was  a  simple,  unspoiled  nature.  Fearless  to 
do  the  work  that  was  set  before  him,  he  always 
underestimated  his  capacity.  Because  he  was  so 
unassuming,  others,  even  his  intimates,  likewise 
underestimated  his  ability,  even  when  the  marvelous 
reserve  power  and  intelligence  had  been  demon- 
strated over  and  over  again.  His  election  to  the 
governorship  came  to  his  simple  nature  as  if  it  were 
a  dream.  Surrounded  by  cheering,  delighted  thou- 
sands of  his  fellow  citizens  he  said  then  to  an  old 
friend : 

"  Why,  I  always  supposed  that  men  who  rose  to 
such  an  office  as  this  were  men  who  were  different 
from  the  rest  of  us ;  I  thought  they  must  know  a 
whole  lot  more  than  we  do.  But  I  '11  do  the  best 
I  can." 


247 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

ILLNESS   AND   DEATH 

IT  was  characteristic  of  Governor  Johnson's  life 
of  action  and  achievement  that  in  the  blaze  of 
discussion  over  his  Seattle  speech  and  President 
Taft's  reply  thereto  he  should  suddenly  determine  to 
undergo  a  fourth  operation  for  an  intestinal  trouble. 
As  long  ago  as  1897,  the  Governor  had  been  oper- 
ated on  for  appendicitis.  A  second  operation  fol- 
lowed a  few  years  later,  and  in  1904  he  was  oper- 
ated on  the  third  time.  The  third  operation  was 
for  an  intestinal  adhesion  somewhat  similar  to  the 
malady  which  took  him  to  the  hospital  the  fourth 
time. 

On  Monday,  September  13,  1909,  the  Governor 
said  good-bye  to  his  friends  and  accompanied  by 
his  wife  went  to  Rochester,  Minnesota,  where  all 
his  previous  operations  had  been  performed  by  the 
Drs.  Mayo. 

He  had  put  off  the  operation  as  long  as  possible. 
For  several  years  he  had  from  time  to  time  suffered 
great  agony,  and  the  repeated  recurrence  of  these 

248 


ILLNESS  AND  DEATH 

paroxysms  of  pain  warned  him  that  he  must  not 
longer  procrastinate. 

He  put  a  light  aspect  on  his  approaching  ordeal. 

"  God  be  with  you,"  said  a  friend  who  met  him 
at  lunch  the  day  of  his  departure  for  Rochester. 

"  Oh !  don't  put  it  so  seriously,"  replied  the 
Governor.  "  I  am  used  to  this  sort  of  thing,  and 
I  regard  a  stay  in  a  hospital  as  a  vacation.  I  will 
be  well  enough  to  read  within  a  few  days  and  then 
I  am  going  to  break  my  record.  The  last  time  I 
was  in  the  hospital  I  read  fourteen  books.  Why, 
the  best  chance  I  get  for  reading  nowadays  is  when 
I  am  in  the  hospital." 

At  the  same  time  —  in  Carling's  restaurant  in 
St.  Paul  —  John  E.  Burchard,  a  warm  friend,  said 
to  the  Governor : 

"  I  would  gladly  go  to  Rochester  in  your  place  if 
I  could." 

"  You  would  be  foolish,  John,"  was  the  Gov- 
ernor's reply.  "  I  am  used  to  these  operations.  It 
will  be  over  in  twenty  or  thirty  minutes,  and  I  do 
not  even  dread  it.  It  will  be  much  easier  for  me 
than  for  you." 

As  the  Governor  sat  at  lunch  he  held  something 
of  an  informal  reception.  He  was  alert  and 
vivacious  and  full  of  the  joy  of  life. 

He  walked  back  to   the  capitol  with   Mr.   Day, 

249 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

dropping  into  a  department  store  on  the  way,  where, 
after  his  democratic  fashion,  he  chatted  with  the 
young  women  clerks  in  lively  mood. 

On  the  way  from  the  capitol  to  the  restaurant 
Mr.  Day  remarked  to  the  Governor  that  something" 
of  a  political  revolution  seemed  to  be  in  progress 
in  the  nation,  and  that  as  the  Governor  would  likely 
be  laid  up  something  like  five  or  six  weeks  he 
(Day)  should  know  the  Governor's  attitude  as  to 
the  presidential  talk. 

"  I  don't  see  how  I  can  keep  out  of  the  race," 
was  the  answer.  "  You  know  I  have  never  been 
anxious  for  the  office.  The  candidacy  will  largely 
take  the  pleasure  out  of  my  life  and  I  am  honestly 
indifferent  but  at  the  same  time,  I  suppose  the 
pressure  will  be  such  that  I  will  be  eventually  forced 
into  the  race." 

Further,  in  a  guarded  way  the  Governor  ad- 
mitted that  the  chances  were  that  the  pressure  of 
the  presidential  candidacy  would  force  him  into  a 
fourth  term  as  governor. 

The  Governor  had  not  been  back  at  the  capitol 
half  an  hour  before  the  dreadful  pains  returned. 
Mr.  Day  called  an  automobile,  rode  with  the  Gov- 
ernor to  his  hotel  and  bade  him  good-bye  —  the  last 
good-bye.  On  the  way  to  Rochester  the  Governor 
had  another  attack  of  severe  pain. 

250 


ILLNESS  AND  DEATH 

Monday  night  and  Tuesday,  September  14,  the 
Governor  spent  resting  at  the  home  of  his  old 
Rochester  friend,  John  C.  Sullivan.  Tuesday  even- 
ing he  was  taken  in  a  carriage  to  a  room  in  the 
south  wing  of  the  hospital,  fronting  on  a  splendid 
prospect  of  green  sward  and  trees.  When  Mr.  W. 
L.  Williams,  a  newspaper  correspondent,  called  on 
him  at  8  o'clock  that  evening,  the  Governor  was 
sitting  in  an  easy  chair  reading  a  book. 

"  He  might,"  says  Mr.  Williams,  "  have  been 
doing  the  same  thing  in  his  own  home  for  aught 
of  difference  there  was  in  his  appearance  or  in  the 
true  ring  of  friendship  in  the  kindly,  familiar  voice, 
with  which  he  bade  me  welcome  to  the  room. 

"  '  Glad  to  see  you,  old  man,'  he  said.  '  How 
long  are  you  going  to  stay  ?  ' 

"  '  Oh !  probably  a  day  or  so  after  your  opera- 
tion,' I  replied,  '  just  long  enough  to  pull  you 
through  all  right.  You  know  we  have  to  keep 
pretty  close  tab  on  you  national  characters.' 
Whereat  we  both  smiled. 

"  There  was  no  thought  in  either  of  our  minds 
of  the  black  shadow  that  was  already  creeping  over 
the  horizon,  and  that  was  so  soon  to  rob  Minne- 
sota of  her  best  beloved  native  son  and  governor. 
I  am  positive  that  at  that  time  the  Governor  had 
no  idea  that  the  operation  would  prove  serious,  and 

251 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

his  air  of  absolute  confidence  in  the  outcome  dis- 
pelled any  misgivings  that  I  may  have  had.  We 
were  old  friends  and  we  talked  intimately  that 
evening  of  the  great  changes  that  had  come  in  his 
life  since  we  had  first  become  acquainted  fourteen 
years  before,  when  he  was  the  publisher  of  the 
St.  Peter  Herald  and  a  member  of  the  state  senate. 
At  that  time  I  was  a  legislative  reporter  for  the 
Pioneer  Press,  and  we  became  close  personal  friends 
before  the  session  closed.  At  last  our  talk  turned 
to  the  coming  ordeal  of  the  morning.  The  Gov- 
ernor talked  about  it  in  a  thoroughly  impersonal 
way,  just  as  he  would  have  done  had  it  been  some 
other  person  and  not  himself  who  was  going  under 
the  knife  of  the  surgeon. 

"  '  I  have  been  through  three  of  these  affairs,  you 
know,'  he  said,  '  and  Mrs.  Johnson  has  not  yet 
entirely  recovered  from  the  effects  of  one  last  win- 
ter, so  I  do  not  fear  it  as  one  would  who  had  never 
undergone  an  operation.  I  remember  very  well  the 
first  operation.  How  I  dreaded  the  thought  of  the 
anesthetic !  I  feared  the  outcome,  but  this  time  I 
have  absolutely  no  fear.  I  know  that  I  will  sur- 
vive the  anesthetic  and  that  the  operation  wrill  not 
prove  serious.  I  will  probably  be  here  two  or 
three  weeks,  and  will  then  be  back  at  my  desk  in  the 
capitol.     The  only  thing  I  regret  is  the  fact  that  I 

252 


ILLNESS  AND  DEATH 

will  be  unable  to  be  in  St.  Paul  when  President 
Taft  arrives,  to  participate  in  his  reception.  I  had 
willed  it  otherwise,  but  that  severe  attack  on  Sun- 
day warned  me  that  I  must  at  once  take  steps  to 
secure  relief.  In  fact  I  guess  I  put  off  the  opera- 
tion longer  than  I  should  have.'  " 

"  When  it  was  known  the  next  day  that  the  opera- 
tion had  proved  exceedingly  dangerous  and  that  its 
outcome  was  in  doubt,  Governor  Johnson  gave  rigid 
instructions  to  the  surgeons  that  I  was  to  have  all 
the  information  concerning  his  case  from  day  to 
day  that  arose  while  he  was  in  a  critical  condi- 
tion." 

Governor  Johnson  was  taken  to  the  operating 
room  in  the  hospital  at  8 130  Wednesday  morning. 
For  nearly  three  hours  he  was  unconscious  under 
the  anesthetic  and  for  two  hours  and  ten  minutes 
he  was  uninterruptedly  under  the  surgeon's  knife. 
The  duration  of  the  operation  was  extraordinary. 
Dr.  William  J.  Mayo  performed  the  actual  opera- 
tion in  constant  consultation  with  his  brother,  Dr. 
Charles  H.  Mayo.  The  Governor  was  their  per- 
sonal friend  and  if  such  men  could  or  would 
have  done  more  for  one  man  than  for  any  other 
they  would  have  done  it  for  him.  They  found 
complicated  conditions  to  deal  with.  There  was  a 
deep-seated  abscess  and  a  baffling  adhesion  of  the 

253 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

intestines.     The  surgeons  were  dismayed  and  pro 
foundry  apprehensive. 

"  It  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  suc- 
cessful operations  of  its  kind,"  said  an  eminent 
Italian  surgeon  who  was  present,  "  but  I  did  not 
believe  that  the  Governor  would  survive." 

The  Governor's  first  request  upon  returning  to 
consciousness  was  for  his  wife.  "  Tell  Nora  I 
want  to  see  her,"  he  said,  and  Mrs.  Johnson  was 
at  once  summoned  from  an  adjoining  room,  where 
she  had  remained  during  the  operation. 

The  Governor  rallied  so  bravely  from  the  effects 
of  the  anesthetic  and  the  operation  that  at  3  o'clock 
that  afternoon  Dr.  W.  J.  Mayo  said  that  he  had 
hope  that  the  Governor  would  recover,  although  the 
operation  had  proved  far  more  complicated  than 
had  been  expected. 

The  first  set-back  came  at  10  o'clock  that  night, 
when  Dr.  C.  F.  McNevin,  one  of  the  house  physi- 
cians, who  had  been  detailed  on  the  Governor's 
case,  was  horrified  to  find  his  distinguished  patient 
in  a  serious  sinking  spell.  He  could  not  detect  the 
pulse,  and  promptly  resorted  to  extreme  measures. 
The  Governor  rallied  and  when  this  crisis  was  past 
the  indications  were  very  hopeful.  Thursday, 
Thursday  night  and  up  to  3  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon of  Friday  there  was   marked   improvement. 

254 


FUNERAL    PROCESSION    IN    ST,    PAUL 


ILLNESS  AND  DEATH 

That  evening  he  had  another  severe  sinking  spell, 
but  from  that  time  until  the  afternoon  of  Monday, 
September  20,  he  seemed  to  be  on  the  road  to 
recovery.  However,  because  the  nature  of  the  op- 
eration made  it  impossible  for  him  to  take  any  real 
nourishment,  he  was  gradually  growing  weaker. 
On  Monday,  however,  he  was  able  to  take  and  re- 
tain some  broth,  and  as  the  danger  of  peritonitis 
was  then  past,  it  was  hoped  that  the  crisis  was  over. 
About  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  however,  a  rapid 
fluctuating  pulse  with  sub-normal  temperature  in- 
dicated the  approach  of  another  collapse.  As  the 
hours  passed  and  there  was  no  rallying,  all  hope 
was  abandoned. 

The  Governor's  brother,  Fred  W.  Johnson,  and 
his  two  closest  personal  friends,  Frederick  B.  Lynch 
and  Frank  A.  Day,  were  summoned.  All  through 
the  sad  hours  of  that  fatal  night  the  two  friends 
waited  in  the  hospital,  hoping  against  hope.  The 
Drs.  Mayo,  Dr.  E.  S.  Judd,  their  principal  assistant, 
Dr.  McNevin  and  the  nurses,  Mrs.  Johnson  and  her 
friend,  Miss  Margaret  Sullivan,  were  at  the  bedside 
nearly  all  of  this  time  of  despair.  For  hours  at  a 
time  Dr.  McNevin  stood  by  the  bed  gently  waving 
a  palm  leaf  fan  that  the  Governor  might  enjoy  a 
breath  of  fresh  air.  He  expressed  a  feeling  of 
intense    fatigue.     No   one   told   him   that   his   last 

255 

17 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

hours  had  come.  He  silently  struggled  for  life, 
but  in  some  way  it  was  borne  in  upon  him  that  the 
struggle  would  be  in  vain.  Raising  himself,  he 
caressed  his  wife  on  the  cheek  and  said: 

'  Well,  Nora,  I  guess  I  am  going,  but  we  have 
made  a  good  fight." 

He  said  no  more,  but  from  time  to  time  feebly 
stroked  Mrs.  Johnson's  cheek  and  indicated  his 
consciousness  at  other  times  by  a  tender  pressure 
of  the  hand. 

At  3 125  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Tuesday, 
September  21,  the  Governor  died. 

Never  was  such  general  grief  known  in  Minne- 
sota. Not  since  Lincoln's  death,  perhaps,  has  the 
death  of  a  public  man  been  a  personal  grief  to  so 
many. 

"  Yesterday,"  said  one  man,  "  there  was  brought 
home  the  body  of  my  brother,  dead  in  the  Philip- 
pines. I  loved  that  brother,  but  I  think  it  no  shame 
to  say  that  my  grief  over  the  Governor's  death  is 
fully  as  great." 

Men  and  women  wept  in  public.  A  dense  gloom 
settled  down  upon  the  whole  state.  Day  by  day 
the  people  had  prayed  and  hoped  for  the  survival 
of  their  good  governor.  They  could  not  believe 
that  he  had  been  taken  from  them.  Dead  in  the 
zenith  of  his  strength,  in  the  flower  of  his  fame, 

256 


ILLNESS  AND  DEATH 

with  great  things  to  do  and  the  genius  for  them  — 
it  could  not  be  God  were  so  unkind! 

The  body  was  that  day  brought  from  Rochester 
to  St.  Paul,  soldiers  stood  in  silent  guard  that  night, 
and  all  day  Wednesday  it  lay  in  peaceful  state  in 
the  great  white  capitol,  where  for  so  many  years 
the  Governor  had  been  the  center  of  life  and  action. 
All  day  his  faithful  friends  tramped  by  the  bier. 
Fifty  thousand  persons  were  in  that  sad  procession 
of  farewell  and  their  passing  wore  a  path  in  the 
stone. 

The  next  day,  Thursday,  a  special  train  conveyed 
body  and  mourners  to  St.  Peter.  Governor  Eber- 
hart  proclaimed  it  a  day  of  mourning.  The  whole 
state  stopped  to  mourn  —  all  business  was  stayed. 
In  some  degree  the  whole  nation  mourned.  The 
war  ships  in  New  York  harbor  dropped  their  flags 
to  half  mast,  the  telegraph  wires  were  crowded 
and  the  mails  congested  with  expressions  of  grief. 
Hundreds  of  memorial  meetings  were  held  through- 
out the  land.  Everywhere  it  was  sadly  realized 
that  the  nation  had  lost  a  leader  of  hope  and 
strength. 

Funeral  services  were  held  in  the  Presbyterian 
church,  where  the  Governor  had  been  a  regular  at- 
tendant for  many  years.  The  little  city  was  over- 
whelmed with  grief.     Trains  brought  thousands  of 

257 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

mourners,  and  the  country  folk  came  in  carriages 
and  wagons  for  forty  and  fifty  miles  around.  From 
the  church,  all  that  was  mortal  of  the  great  governor 
was  conveyed  with  solemn  procession  to  quiet 
Greenhill  cemetery,  there  to  rest  beside  the  mother. 


258 


CHAPTER  XIX 
governor  Johnson's  influence 

ALTHOUGH  Governor  Johnson  never  held  any 
national  official  position,  and  was  not  even 
recognized  at  the  time  of  his  death  as  a  national 
political  leader,  though  considered  the  probable 
nominee  of  the  Democracy  for  the  presidency  in 
191 2,  his  influence  was  felt  throughout  the  country 
and  will  continue  to  be  felt  for  a  long  time.  Had 
he  lived  there  is  little  doubt  among  those  who  knew 
and  appreciated  him  that  he  would  have  exerted 
a  most  powerful  influence  on  the  future  of  his 
party  and  the  nation.  Had  he  attained  to  the  presi- 
dency, his  remarkable  executive  and  administrative 
qualities,  and  his  faculty  for  leadership  would  prob- 
ably have  effected  the  welding  together  of  all  the 
conflicting  elements  in  the  Democratic  Party,  and 
under  his  leadership,  that  party  would  have  given 
the  country  a  demonstration  of  constructive  states- 
manship. There  is  little  doubt  that  Governor  John- 
son's fame  and  influence  will,  like  Lincoln's,  increase 
with  the  years,  and  will  continue  a  powerful,  whole- 

259 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

some,  moral  force  for  an  indefinite  period.  Perhaps 
the  most  notable  influence  that  his  career  has  already- 
exerted  was  the  giving  of  a  mighty  impetus  to  the 
cause  of  independence  and  non-partisanship  in  our 
nation.  Governor  Johnson  was  a  Democrat,  but  he 
was  not  a  blind  partisan,  and  he  always  held  the 
public  good  superior  to  party  good.  His  election 
to  the  governorship  of  Minnesota,  a  Republican 
state,  three  times  in  succession  had  a  great  effect 
in  promoting  political  independence  and  liberality 
throughout  the  West. 

Of  course,  there  is  a  natural  and  pardonable 
tendency  on  the  part  of  those  who  were  closest  to 
the  Governor,  and  knew  him  best,  to  be  prejudiced 
in  his  favor  in  attempting  to  pass  judgment  on  his 
work  and  influence.  He  was  so  dear  to  his  own 
people,  and  his  death  so  profoundly  saddened  them, 
that  it  is  hard  for  one  of  them  cold-bloodedly  to 
interpret  the  true  meaning  of  his  character,  and  to 
attempt  impartially  to  outline  the  channels  through 
which  his  permanent  influence  will  flow  as  the 
generations  go  by. 

Governor  Johnson's  phenomenal  success  as 
leader  and  administrator  was  due  to  a  rare  com- 
bination of  excellent  qualities.  Many  others  were 
as  able  as  he.  Others  were  as  patriotic.  Others 
were    equally    gifted    with    hard,    common    sense. 

260 


GOVERNOR  JOHNSON'S  INFLUENCE 

Others  were  as  honest  and  sincere.  Others  were 
as  shrewd  observers  of  political  tendencies.  Still 
others  were  as  magnetic.  But  in  few  men  have 
all  these  characteristics  been  so  happily  blended. 
He  made  wise  and  skillful  use  of  his  gifts.  Never 
did  he  lead  men  astray.  Never  did  one  regret  hav- 
ing submitted  to  his  guidance. 

The  Governor's  wondrous  faculty  of  leadership 
never  shone  more  conspicuously  than  during  his 
relations  with  three  legislatures  overwhelmingly 
controlled  by  his  political  opponents.  Their  coun- 
cils were  divided,  their  allegiance  split  up  among 
several  party  chiefs.  In  Governor  Johnson,  never 
a  bitter  partisan,  always  the  urbane,  always  the 
sympathetic,  always  the  force  raised  to  potency  by 
the  genius  of  levelheadedness,  these  men  found  a 
leader  whom,  Democrat  though  he  was,  they  could 
follow  without  loss  of  self-respect,  of  dignity  or  of 
consistency.  They  observed  that  his  advice  was 
mainly  sound  and  reasonable,  and  uniformly  en- 
dorsed his  principal  recommendations.  It  was  a 
thing  without  precedent  in  Minnesota  political  an- 
nals, but  it  came  to  pass  and  the  whole  state  was  a 
gainer.  At  times  some  member,  of  the  majority 
would  become  restive  and  protest  against  this 
strange  acquiescence  in  the  wishes  of  the  Demo- 
cratic executive ;  but  when  the  time  came  for  action, 

261 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

all  were  found  in  line.  Perhaps  the  result  was  due 
partially  to  the  imminence  of  sundry  unhappy  half- 
hours  with  constituents  had  the  lawmakers  departed 
from  the  path  of  wisdom  simply  because  a  minority 
governor  had  blazed  the  way. 

Governor  Johnson's  capacity  for  public  affairs 
was  elastic.  He  had  not  half  reached  its  limits 
when  struck  down.  In  no  crisis  was  he  found 
wanting.  In  no  delicate  situation  did  he  ever  fail 
to  do  exactly  the  right  thing  at  the  right  time. 
More  than  once  conditions  of  peril  and  difficulty 
arose  and  his  friends  viewed  the  outcome  with  mis- 
giving. They  wondered  how  the  Governor  would 
solve  the  problem.  The  solution  always  came  with 
the  occasion.  He  was  always  equal  to  the  problem. 
He  met  and  overcame  it  with  skill,  wisdom  and 
surprising  success.  Then  the  friends  would  ex- 
claim :  "  Why,  that  was  the  most  natural  way  to 
adjust  the  trouble! "  True:  but  Governor  Johnson 
was  the  only  one  to  whom  it  had  occurred  in  time. 
The  most  celebrated  instance  of  this  constant  readi- 
ness, this  dependable  application  of  adequate  reme- 
dies for  acute  danger,  was  his  settlement  of  the 
great  strike  of  iron  miners  in  Northern  Minnesota, 
when  he  packed  his  grip,  went  to  Hibbing  and 
Duluth  and  in  a  few  hours  saved  the  state  from  the 
horrors   of  virtual   civil    war.     Whenever   adjust- 

262 


GOVERNOR  JOHNSON'S  INFLUENCE 

ment  was  needed  Governor  Johnson  exercised  it  to 
the  general  satisfaction  of  all  parties,  and  as  by 
magic  all  grounds  for  bitter  feeling  were  swept 
away.  Of  all  the  dispensers  of  patronage  the  state 
has  ever  known,  he  was  the  only  one  capable  of  the 
miracle  of  sending  disappointed  officeseekers  away 
swearing  by  him  instead  of  at  him.  He  was  a 
wizard  of  administration. 

It  was  by  means  of  one  of  the  most  vigorous 
assertions  of  the  independent  spirit,  one  of  the  most 
notable  instances  of  widespread  repudiation  of  party 
ties  and  claims,  to  be  found  in  political  history  that 
the  modest  country  editor  was  placed  in  the  gov- 
ernor's chair.  His  two  reflections,  with  his  whole 
general  line  of  conduct  in  the  office  distinguished 
by  a  surpassing  excellence  of  appointments,  and  the 
cordial  and  patriotic  cooperation  of  Republican 
state  officials,  fostered  and  cultivated  the  idea  of 
merit  before  partisanship  in  public  office  to  a  de- 
gree never  before  attained  in  any  state  of  the 
Union.  This  idea  is  destined  to  growth  and  per- 
petuation. The  people  like  it.  They  will  have  more 
of  it  before  they  will  have  less  of  it.  They  will 
tolerate  no  retrogression.  They  have  put  their 
hand  to  the  plow  and  will  not  turn  back.  When 
on  that  melancholy  September  day,  under  the  half- 
masted    flags    of    the    capitol,    the    new    governor, 

263 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

Adolph  O.  Eberhart,  the  Republican,  announced 
that  he  would  carry  out  the  policies  of  his  Demo- 
cratic predecessor,  he  paid  a  magnificent  tribute  to 
the  worth  and  memory  of  the  man  whose  departure 
had  plunged  the  people  of  Minnesota  into  the  pro- 
foundest  depths  of  mourning  that  had  ever  been 
their  misfortune  to  fathom.  Such  a  thing  would 
have  been  impossible  anywhere  twenty  years  ago. 
What  better  evidence  of  the  universal  recognition  of 
the  integrity  of  purpose,  the  purity  of  motive,  the 
sincerity  of  endeavor,  the  righteousness  of  ideals, 
of  the  lamented  Johnson  could  have  been  adduced 
than  this  declaration  of  the  new  governor  and  its 
hearty  popular  indorsement? 

To  the  many  thousands  in  and  out  of  Minnesota 
whose  hopes  were  centered  upon  the  elevation  of 
Governor  Johnson  to  the  presidency,  whose  senti- 
ment was  finely  expressed  in  concrete  form  by  a 
Republican  paper, —  "  He  was  the  hope  of  the  best 
in  both  parties," — his  premature  end  was  doubly 
distressing.  Try  as  they  would  to  console  them- 
selves with  words  of  philosophical  resignation,  some 
degree  of  bitterness  at  this  cruel  decree  of  untoward 
destiny  intensified  their  disappointment. 

Let  us  consider  for  a  moment  what  might  logic- 
ally have  been  expected  had  this  favorite  son  of 

264 


GOVERNOR  JOHNSON'S  INFLUENCE 

Minnesota  been  elevated  to  the  chief  magistracy  of 
the  nation.  In  Washington,  as  in  St.  Paul,  he 
would  have  proved  equal  to  every  demand  upon  his 
peculiar  powers.  To  begin  with,  supposing  his 
party  should  at  the  same  time  or  during  his  term 
have  secured  control  of  both  branches  of  congress, 
Johnson  would  have  brought  about  a  complete 
union  of  the  Democratic  factions,  and  been  instru- 
mental in  bringing  them  unitedly  to  bear  upon  the 
business  of  government.  He  would  most  assuredly 
have  succeeded  where  Grover  Cleveland  failed,  and 
Cleveland  was  a  great  leader  of  men,  but  lacked 
Johnson's  marvelous  tact  in  dealing  with  them. 
This  welding  of  the  antagonistic  elements  in  a  great 
party  would  have  been  accomplished  by  Johnson 
without  a  sacrifice  of  principle,  and  without  a  sur- 
render of  the  right  in  the  shape  of  questionable  com- 
promise. 

Johnson  would  have  proved  a  great  president, 
worthy  of  the  worthiest  of  his  predecessors.  The 
public  interests  would  have  been  protected  jeal- 
ously, the  national  welfare  advanced,  and  this  coun- 
try raised  to  a  still  prouder  height  among  the  na- 
tions, while  all  the  time  the  vast  machinery  of  gov- 
ernment would  have  run  on  smoothly,  harmoniously 
and  without  friction.     Great  as  was  the  loss  to  Min- 

265 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

nesota  in  this  man's  death,  the  loss  to  the  nation 
was  infinitely  greater. 

The  true  greatness  of  Lincoln  did  not  dawn  upon 
the  world  until  after  he  had  left  it.  Even  now  we 
have  not  a  full  perception  of  that  grand  character, 
nor  will  this  come  till  far  in  the  future.  So  will  it 
be  with  Johnson.  If  Lincoln  is  immortal,  so  is 
Johnson.  The  field  to  which  the  activities  of  the 
Minnesota  governor  were  confined  was  much  more 
restricted  than  that  of  the  apostle  of  emancipation, 
but  the  sphere  of  his  influence  will  expand  with  the 
years.  There  is  now  something  of  a  partisan  feel- 
ing when  Johnson  is  measured  by  his  own  genera- 
tion; but  the  time  will  come  when  Republicans  will 
forget  that  Johnson  was  a  Democrat  just  as  Dem- 
ocrats are  forgetting  that  Lincoln  was  a  Republican. 
Ill  would  it  be  for  any  people  that  failed  to  cherish 
and  make  the  most  of  the  example  of  so  illustrious, 
so  unique  a  representative.  The  school  text-books 
will  be  enriched  by  the  absorbing,  elevating  story 
of  the  poor  son  of  an  impecunious  Scandinavian  im- 
migrant who  won  his  way  to  national  renown  over 
obstacles  that  would  have  been  fatally  dishearten- 
ing to  a  soul  of  less  heroic  mold. 

It  is  a  matter  of  testimony  that  one  of  the  most 
fruitful   sources  of  inspiration  to   the  Republican 

266 


GOVERNOR  JOHNSON'S  INFLUENCE 

state  officials  from  1905  to  1909  was  the  ever-pres- 
ent realization  that  in  the  governor's  office  sat  a 
man  who  every  hour  of  every  day  addressed  his 
best,  earnest  efforts  to  the  service  of  the  people 
in  utter  disregard  of  all  political  considerations. 
They  knew  him  worthy  of  emulation,  and  each 
worked   fortified  bv  a  determination  to  exert  his 

¥ 

powers  as  a  public  servant  in  the  same  spirit  that 
animated  his  chief.  The  result  was  the  most  har- 
monious, efficient  and  popular  administration  that 
Minnesota  has  ever  enjoyed. 

It  is  inconceivable  that  the  beneficent  results  of 
a  record  like  this  should  fail  of  appreciation,  and  be 
lost  to  posterity.  The  good  of  Johnson  was  not 
interred  with  his  bones.  The  world  cannot  afford 
to  lose  so  precious  a  legacy  of  achievement  in  state- 
craft as  this.  Too  seldom  does  high  official  station 
boast  an  incumbent  whose  efforts  for  the  common- 
weal are  put  forth  with  like  intelligence,  conscien- 
tiousness and  success.  The  record  of  Johnson  will 
be  treasured  and  utilized  as  inspiration  and  guide 
till  republican  government  is  no  more. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  a  great  "  White 
King  "  came  down  from  the  north,  and  at  the  head 
of  his  Swedish  army  swept  across  Europe,  battering 
down  every  force  that  dared  oppose  until  the  fatal 

267 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

field  of  Lutzen  at  once  crowned  the  glory  and  ter- 
minated the  triumphant  career  of  Gustavus  Adol- 
phus,  the  Sword  of  the  Reformation. 

In  the  twentieth  century  another  "  White  King  " 
came  down  from  the  north  and  moved  across  the 
American  continent  in  conquest  of  human  hearts 
till  checked  untimely  by  the  inscrutable  mandate 
of  the  Sovereign  Terror. 

Gustavus  was  the  embodiment  of  the  principle 
of  Force.  Johnson  was  the  incarnation  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  Love.  The  age  of  Gustavus  was  of  sterner 
mold  and  less  enlightened  than  this,  and  men  were 
wont  to  bend  only  to  the  might  of  military  power. 
The  time  is  now  approaching  when  we  can  say : 

"  Fold  up  the  banners,  smelt  the  guns ; 
Love  rules,  her  gentler  purpose  runs." 

Every  day  are  we  coming  to  realize  more  and 
more  the  truth  contained  in  the  little  essay  of  the 
late  Henry  Drummond,  "  The  Greatest  Thing  in 
the  World,"  that  the  most  potent  weapon,  the  most 
considerable  force,  in  the  universe  is  Love.  Too 
many  there  are  who  cannot  yet  see  this,  or  who, 
seeing,  lose  sight  of  it;  but  it  will  be  understood 
universally  some  day.  Johnson  knew  it,  not  as  a 
matter  of  study  and  deliberation,  but  as  a  matter 
of  intuition,  of  involuntary  revelation.     It  was  his 

268 


GOVERNOR  JOHNSON'S  INFLUENCE 

nature  to  bestow  as  well  as  to  receive  this  vital  es- 
sence of  the  gospel  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  And 
his  life  achievement  was  greater  than  that  of  Gus- 
tavus. 


269 


APPENDIX 

Public  Addresses,   Proclamations  and  Writings  of 
Governor  Johnson 

Tributes 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  ADDRESS 

PORTIONS  OF  A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  AT  RED  LAKE 
FALLS,  MINNESOTA,  IN  I904 

IT  has  been  said  that  there  is  nothing  new  under 
the  sun.  That  may  or  may  not  be  true,  but 
one  thing  is  certain;  there  is  only  one  kind  of  a 
Fourth  of  July,  and  we  do  not  want  it  changed. 
On  this  day  we  do  not  want  to  know  of  art,  science, 
literature.  We  want  told  again  and  again  the 
story  of  the  Boston  Tea  Party,  Bunker  Hill  and 
Valley  Forge.  We  want  to  hear  of  Washington, 
Stark,  Putnam,  Ethan  Allen  and  the  other  heroes 
who  won  the  right  to  immortality.  During  the 
remainder  of  the  year  we  can  talk  of  the  tariff,  the 
banking  system  and  the  currency  question.  To-day 
there  is  one,  and  only  one  text  —  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  We  want  to  know  what  it  was,  who 
uttered  it,  who  secured  it  and  what  brought  it  to 
us.  There  is  scarcely  need  to  go  into  detail. 
Every  schoolboy  knows  the  story.  Every  man  and 
woman  ought  to  know  it  as  they  know  their  alpha- 
bet.    And  yet  we  like  on  this  day  to  talk  of  the 

273 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

cruel  wrongs  practiced  by  the  mother  country  upon 
the  colonists;  how  they  grew  weary  of  their 
wrongs;  how  our  forefathers  burned  with  righteous 
indignation  and  declared  that  all  men  were  created 
free  and  equal;  how  they  threw  off  the  yoke  of 
oppression;  how  they  were  ready  to  fight  for  free- 
dom and  willing  to  lay  down  their  lives  for  it. 

Then,  too,  we  love  to  read  and  think  how  it  was 
all  brought  about;  how  the  Minute  Men  sprang  up 
day  and  night  and  made  war  upon  the  invading 
foe.  We  love  to  dwell  upon  the  heroes  at  Benning- 
ton and  Bunker  Hill,  at  Ticonderoga,  Concord  and 
Lexington,  and  the  other  battlefields  where  honor 
was  won  and  independence  established.  The  world 
has  no  parallel  to  it  in  all  its  history.  Rome  had 
her  heroes,  Greece  had  her  men  who  fought  for 
their  homes  and  their  country.  Romantic  France 
had  her  revolution  which  stands  out  in  the  sky  of 
history  like  a  lodestar.  Poland  and  Switzerland 
reared  their  Tells  and  Kosciuskos,  but  in  no  country 
and  at  no  time  was  freedom  bought  at  such  a  cost 
as  ours,  nowhere  was  it  gained  against  such  odds, 
and  nowhere  was  the  result  so  complete,  so  last- 
ing and  so  extensive.  It  must  have  been  a  divinity 
which  shaped  our  ends.  The  god  of  destinies  was 
arrayed  with  Washington,  with  Paul  Jones,  with 
Adams,  Franklin,  Randolph,  Henry  and  Jefferson. 

274 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  ADDRESS 

There  was  never  such  a  congress  as  the  old  Conti- 
nental Congress  and  never  such  patriots  as  those 
who  fought  for  the  independence  of  America,  never 
such  a  country  as  America. 

There  was  a  time  when  statesmen  were  patriots  — 
when  politicians  were  patriots.  Changes  have  taken 
place  in  our  economic  system.  From  the  continued 
malfeasance  in  office  politics  is  now  regarded  either 
a  charity  or  a  crime.  Some  men  are  kept  in  office 
through  pity  or  because  they  cannot  earn  a  living  in 
the  regular  channels  of  labor  or  commerce.  Others 
hold  office  because  they  buy  their  way  in  and  sell 
their  birthright  for  other  pottage  to  continue  to  buy 
office.  All  men  are  not  thus.  There  are  still  pure, 
lofty,  patriotic  men,  who  honestly  discharge  their 
duty.  But  when  we  read  of  the  bribery  of  Min- 
neapolis, the  rottenness  of  Chicago,  the  corruption 
of  Pennsylvania,  wide  as  the  state  itself,  we  stand 
aghast  and  fear  for  the  future  of  the  Republic.  We 
hear  sometimes  that  a  river  cannot  rise  higher  than 
its  source:  that  if  public  servants  are  corrupt  it  is 
because  the  people  themselves  are  lacking  in  honesty. 
That  is  false.  The  people  as  a  rule  are  honest,  and 
the  fact  that  public  servants  are  untrue  is  because  of 
the  apathy  of  the  people.  In  politics  we  are  an 
indolent  and  a  lazy  people.  We  are  content  to  let 
things  take  their  own  course  and  allow  selfish  men  to 

275 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

transact  the  business  we  ought  to  do  and  because 
we  are  too  lazy  to  pay  attention  to  the  details  of 
our  own  business.  Our  country  is  cursed  by  a 
slavery  to  partisanship.  I  warrant  that  less  than 
ten  per  cent,  of  the  people  are  familiar  with  the 
constitution  of  the  country.  Less  than  that  num- 
ber study  the  platforms  of  their  party  and  an  equally 
small  number  know  why  they  are  Republicans  or 
why  they  are  Democrats. 

An  ideal  state  of  civilization  comes  only  from  a 
quickened  intelligence  and  the  education  of  the 
masses.  No  people  ever  became  great  through  igno- 
rance and  superstition.  No  party  can  become  per- 
manent so  long  as  the  few  can  dominate  the  many 
by  cant,  hypocrisy,  and  misrepresentation.  The 
greatest  power  ever  given  to  any  people  is  an  equal 
right  with  the  ballot.  No  power  is  so  often  ren- 
dered useless  by  using  it  without  intelligence. 
Some  men  shun  political  heresy  through  the  fear  of 
ridicule.  No  man  is  so  weak  as  the  voter  without 
the  courage  of  his  convictions.  The  independent 
voter,  the  man  who  votes  as  his  conscience  dictates, 
is  the  ideal  citizen.  The  hope  of  the  nation  is  in 
all  the  people  aroused  from  the  sleep  of  party  big- 
otry, armed  with  the  breastplate  of  conviction  and 
carrying  the  sword  of  Conscience  and  Truth. 

America  has  just  cause  for  pride  in  her  educa- 

276 


FOURTH  OF  JULY  ADDRESS 

tional  system.  Other  countries  and  their  rulers 
have  purposely  kept  their  people  in  ignorance  and 
superstition  that  they  might  the  easier  be  governed 
by  passion  and  fear.  In  our  country  every  boy  and 
every  girl  has  the  right  to  an  education.  The  state 
not  only  offers  it  but  urges  it.  And  every  boy  in 
this  state  should  grasp  the  prize  held  out  to  him. 
True  dignity  is  in  education.  Education  is  the  key 
that  unlocks  opportunity.  Because  some  men  have 
succeeded  in  business  without  education  is  no  argu- 
ment in  favor  of  ignorance.  Ten  succeed  through 
education  where  one  fails.  Ten  ignorant  men  fail 
where  one  succeeds.  The  poor  boy  must  have 
brains  to  compete  with  the  rich  man's  influence. 
The  start  in  life  is  unequal,  but  the  poor  boy  with 
an  education  will  eventually  outstrip  the  rich  man 
and  his  prestige.  In  this  age  there  is  no  excuse  for 
any  boy  going  through  life  without  an  education. 
No  boy  is  too  poor  to  have  an  education  and  no  boy 
makes  a  mistake  who  seeks  and  gets  an  education. 

What  we  need  in  this  country  is  men  of  character. 
Character  is  the  greatest  thing  in  the  world.  It  is 
as  old  as  the  world  itself.  Character  is  that  some- 
thing ingrown  into  the  man  —  that  something  which 
makes  him  kind  to  his  neighbors,  generous  to  his 
family,  honest  in  the  payment  of  his  debts  and  hon- 
est in  public  life.     It  is  not  that  which  makes  him 

277 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

honest  when  in  the  sight  of  other  men,  but  honest 
when  he  is  alone.  Character  is  what  a  man  is,  not 
what  he  seems.  Character  is  what  you  actually 
are,  not  what  your  neighbor  thinks  you  are.  Char- 
acter, as  Moody  once  said,  is  what  a  man  is  when 
he  is  in  the  dark,  what  he  actually  thinks  and  does 
when  alone.  Alexander  the  Great,  before  he  died, 
ordered  that  his  hands  be  left  uncovered  by  his 
funeral  shroud  in  order  that  the  people  might  know 
that  he  took  nothing  from  this  world  or  from  his 
people.  Some  of  our  public  servants  of  to-day  fail 
to  make  such  a  provision.  We  want  character  in 
our  neighbor.  ,We  must  have  character  in  our- 
selves. 


278 


COMMERCIAL  AND  POLITICAL  INTEG- 
RITY 

A  SPEECH  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE   MERCHANTS 
CLUB    OF    CHICAGO,    FEB.    l8,    I905 

NOT  since  the  days  leading  up  to  the  abolition 
of  slavery  has  there  been  such  a  political 
awakening  in  city,  state  and  nation,  as  at  the  pres- 
ent time.  For  a  half  century  the  Republic  had  been 
lulled  to  a  sense  of  security  and  rest.  Weary  after 
four  years  of  civil  war,  the  nation  slumbered  in 
peace.  Reconstruction  was  undertaken  and  accom- 
plished. The  people  prospered  and  the  Republic 
grew.  The  great  ship  of  state  drifted  on  the  tide 
of  prosperity.  Suddenly,  through  the  mist,  officers, 
crew,  and  passengers  heard  the  warning  sound  of 
breakers  on  the  reefs  —  reefs  of  political  graft, 
reefs  of  commercialism,  reefs  of  public  control  for 
private  ends.  On  the  night  of  November  8th, 
the  order  went  ringing  to  the  men  at  the  wheel : 
"  Change  your  course,  mind  the  compass  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  public  conscience;  the  heartbeat  of  the 
people  is  running  this  craft." 

279 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

For  the  first  time  in  a  half  century  the  nation 
is  startled  by  the  news  that  a  political  revolution 
has  taken  place  and  that  it  is  without  a  parallel  in 
American  history.  The  old  Bay  State,  casting  its 
vote  for  the  presidential  candidate  of  one  party, 
elects  for  its  governor  a  champion  of  the  people, 
nominated  by  the  opposition  party.  Missouri  elects 
Folk  and  then  casts  its  presidential  vote  for  a  man 
of  different  political  complexion.  In  your  own 
state  a  champion  of  human  rights  is  chosen  as  the 
chief  executive.  In  my  beloved  state,  the  anomaly 
appears  of  the  people  choosing  a  Democrat  as  gov- 
ernor in  a  presidential  year,  when  they  give  a  hun- 
dred thousand  plurality  or  more  to  President  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt. 

You  ask  the  cause  of  these  anomalies,  of  this 
revolution  for  independence.  There  comes  the  an- 
swer, the  people  are  smarting  under  the  lash  of 
real  or  fancied  wrongs.  They  have  arisen  in  their 
might  to  correct  the  abuses  of  a  system  of  political 
and  commercial  dishonesty  which  has  reached  a  cli- 
max. 

Wherein  lies  the  dishonesty?  For  fifty  years  the 
people  of  this  nation  have  been  voluntary  slaves  of  a 
political  and  partisan  system  which  has  been  the 
means  of  almost  wrecking  the  foundations  of  our 
government.     Three  months  ago  the  voice  of  the 

280 


COMMERCIAL  INTEGRITY 

people  was  lifted  for  the  President  of  the  Republic 
and  he  was  swept  into  the  presidential  chair  by  a 
tidal  wave  that  was  almost  equivalent  to  a  unani- 
mous choice.  To-day  the  great  captains  of  in- 
dustry, who  did  so  much  to  bring  about  the  result, 
are  arrayed  in  solid  phalanx  for  the  control  of  the 
national  congress  to  defeat  the  very  ends  of  justice 
as  he  understands  them,  and  as  the  American  peo- 
ple understand  them  in  him.  The  people  stand 
amazed  as  they  behold  the  conflict.  The  press 
teems  with  praises  for  the  one  and  condemnation  for 
the  other, 

In  the  Middle  West  and  in  the  Northwest,  we 
watch  the  fight  with  interest;  for  our  people,  con- 
trolled for  years  by  unwholesome  influences,  have 
awakened  to  a  sense  of  their  responsibility.  They 
are  engaged  in  solving  the  problem  of  popular  con- 
trol, of  realizing  good  citizenship,  decent  politics 
and  honest  administration,  of  punishing  and  pre- 
venting criminal  interference  with  the  sovereign 
right  of  the  people  to  honest  government  for  and  by 
themselves.  Their  cry  for  justice  and  equal  rights 
is  not  the  roar  of  the  anarchist  or  the  wail  of  the 
agitator.  It  is  the  intelligent  and  patriotic  demand 
of  a  sober  people  too  long  accustomed  to  endure  a 
situation  as  un-American  as  it  is  unjust. 

But  yesterday  a  prosecuting  attorney  in  the  city 

281 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

of  St.  Louis  brought  to  bay  a  long  line  of  corrupt 
officials  who  had  put  up  the  honor  and  fair  name 
of  a  state  for  barter  and  sale.  Your  own  state  leg- 
islature has  been  pictured  as  a  public  auction,  where 
the  rights  of  the  people  are  sold  as  wheat  in  the  pit 
or  options  on  'change.  The  Governor  of  Indiana 
brings  his  state  before  the  court  of  public  opinion 
with  the  charge  of  bribery  and  corruption.  In  Min- 
nesota the  people  arise  in  revolt  to  resent  the  in- 
terference of  the  corporation  and  of  the  army  of 
trespassers  in  the  selection  of  public  officials.  From 
everywhere  we  hear  the  same  story :  Privileged  in- 
terests are  in  control ;  legislative  bodies  are  corrupt ; 
executive  officials  are  untrue  to  the  trusts  reposed 
in  them. 

For  years  we  have  deliberately  stultified  our- 
selves. The  great  Northwest,  under  the  lash  of  the 
party  whip,  has  subscribed  to  a  tariff  doctrine  wholly 
inconsistent  with  its  needs  and  interests.  Candi- 
dates for  Congress,  elected  on  the  promise  of  tariff' 
revision  and  reform,  have  gone  to  the  nation's  cap- 
ital to  aid  the  friends  of  high  tariff  to  revise 
the  schedules  upward  and  still  higher  on  the  royal 
highway  of  trust  and  paternalism. 

The  Middle  West  has  conceded  the  right  of  its 
commercial  competitor,  the  East,  to  fix  every  eco- 
nomic policy  of  government.     It  has  surrendered  to 

282 


COMMERCIAL  INTEGRITY 

the  East  the  control  of  Congress  and  centered  in  the 
grasp  of  the  great  special  interests  of  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania  the  powers  and  pre- 
rogatives which  the  Constitution  guaranteed  to  the 
people,  and  all  the  people,  as  the  American  Bill  of 
Rights. 

The  Republican  and  the  Democrat  have  been 
equally  blind  in  their  partisanship.  A  splendid  ex- 
ample of  obedient  stupidity  was  illustrated  in  the 
Democracy  of  the  nation  bending  the  pregnant 
hinges  of  its  knee  to  the  great  Juggernaut  of  the 
East;  waiting  for  the  car  to  pass  over  its  prostrate 
form  and  then  back  up  and  practically  complete  the 
party's  annihilation.  The  western  Republican  re- 
joices over  the  misfortune  of  his  neighbor,  not  real- 
izing that  in  different  form  he  has  been  equally  the 
victim  of  the  calamity  of  a  political  system  which 
has  taken  all  and  given  him  little  in  return.  He, 
too,  for  years  has  been  the  victim  of  a  conspiracy 
which  has  yielded  him  the  rare  and  gracious  priv- 
ilege of  subscribing  to  his  own  undoing. 

He  has  delighted  himself  with  the  thought  that 
he  was  saving  the  country;  while  he  was  voting 
faithfully  and  prayerfully,  early  and  often,  year 
after  year,  for  a  party  policy  of  special  privilege, 
devised  by  Pennsylvania,  revised  by  New  Jersey,  the 
nursery  of  trust  incorporation,  and  finally  drafted 

283 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

into  party  platforms  and  law  by  New  York,  where 
the  trust  managers  live,  move,  and  have  their  place 
of  business. 

The  public  mind  is  aroused.  It  is  learning  its 
lesson.  The  process  of  disillusionment  may  be 
slow,  but  it  will  be  sure.  The  voter  is  beginning 
to  realize  that  there  has  been  too  much  partisanship 
and  too  little  intelligence;  too  much  partisanship, 
too  little  independence ;  too  much  partisanship,  too 
little  patriotism;  too  much  politics,  too  little  love  of 
country. 

To-day  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  is  in 
the  absolute  control  and  dominion  of  a  section  and 
the  other  sections  sit  supinely  by  and  tolerate  the 
condition.  Why  should  the  city  of  Chicago  be  the 
political  servant  of  its  great  commercial  rivals,  New 
York  and  Philadelphia?  The  balance  of  power 
should  rest  in  that  great  central  empire  of  our  do- 
main, the  principal  metropolis  of  which  is  Chicago. 

There  must  eventually,  and  possibly  very  soon,  be 
a  new  political  alignment;  but  even  under  the  old 
alignment,  the  great  center  of  political  power  should 
be  close  to  the  population  center  and  industrial  cen- 
ter of  the  nation.  It  should  be  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  instead  of  on  the  Atlantic  Coast.  The  star 
of  political  power,  following  the  westward  course 
of  population  and  industrial  achievement,  will  yet 

284 


COMMERCIAL  INTEGRITY 

rest  over  the  great  empire  of  the  interior,  with  the 
Father  of  Waters  and  the  Great  Lakes  as  its  out- 
let to  the  ocean,  and  with  Chicago  as  its  main  depot. 

New  York,  with  its  vice,  and  New  England,  with 
its  virtue  to  balance  the  ledger,  to-day  control  the 
economic  policy  of  the  nation.  The  time  has  come 
to  transfer  the  seat  of  empire  across  the  Adiron- 
dacks,  to  Illinois,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Ohio,  Ken- 
tucky, Iowa,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  Kansas,  Ne- 
braska, Missouri  and  the  Dakotas.  The  best  brain 
and  the  surest  brawn  of  the  nation  is  found  here  and 
it  should  be  organized  into  one  mighty  moral,  ma- 
terial and  patriotic  force  to  overthrow  paternalism 
and  plunder,  and  regenerate  politics  and  the  Repub- 
lic. 

As  Americans  we  are  proud  of  the  fact  that  the 
bank  clearings  of  New  York  are  to-day  one-half 
greater  than  those  of  London,  and  that  the  cash 
reserve  of  the  New  York  clearing-house  banks  is 
double  that  of  the  Bank  of  England.  But  the  loca- 
tion of  the  counting-house  in  Wall  Street  does  not 
justify  the  transfer  of  the  power  of  the  ballot  there. 

Rather  let  the  ballot  follow  population  and  in- 
dustry. The  Republic  rests  on  men,  not  money. 
This  central  West  of  ours,  where  the  Mississippi 
flows  to  the  sea,  is  settled  by  the  best  class  of  in- 
habitants the  world  has  ever  brought  together,  a 

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JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

people  rugged  in  their  honesty,  loyal  in  the  love  of 
country,  intelligent  and  progressive;  and  to  them 
must  come  sooner  or  later  that  power  for  good 
which  is  the  nation's  hope. 

The  great  central  basin  lying  between  the  Adi- 
rondacks  and  the  Rockies  produces  three-fourths  of 
the  necessaries  and  comforts  which  sustain  the  na- 
tion's life.  It  contains  two-thirds  of  the  working 
and  voting  population,  more  than  one-half  the  mills 
and  factories,  and  four-fifths  of  the  farms. 

The  internal  commerce,  the  product  of  the  labor 
and  capital  of  this  central  empire,  is  many  times  our 
total  foreign  trade.  Through  the  "  Soo "  Canal 
passes  a  freight  tonnage  nearly  double  that  of  the 
Suez  Canal  and  equal  that  of  all  our  Atlantic  ports. 
The  lake  port  of  Duluth-Superior  alone  handles  a 
tonnage  that  equals  one-third  the  ocean  tonnage  of 
the  United  States. 

The  so-called  "  agricultural  state  "of  Minnesota, 
which  leads  the  world  in  bread  and  butter,  besides 
standing  first  in  the  manufacture  of  flour  and  lum- 
ber, produced  last  year  one-half  the  iron  ore  of  the 
United  States  and  one-fourth  that  of  the  globe. 

The  star  of  empire  is  westward.  The  other  day 
the  steamship  Minnesota  —  product  of  the  transpor- 
tation genius  of  the  North  Star  State  —  steamed 
out  of  Seattle  for  the  Orient,  carrying  the  greatest 

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COMMERCIAL  INTEGRITY 

cargo  ever  shipped  within  the  holds  of  a  single  ves- 
sel in  the  world's  maritime  history.  To  the  re- 
sources, the  energies  and  genius  of  the  West,  the 
nation  looks,  not  only  to  build  up  its  commercial 
and  industrial  greatness,  but  its  moral  and  political 
strength. 

I  am  not  among  those  who  believe  the  nation  is 
tottering,  but  among  those  who  behold  grave  dan- 
ger and  have  faith  that  this  danger  will  be  averted. 
The  gravest  peril  lies  in  the  obliviousness  of  the 
many  to  the  existence  of  disease,  and  one  of  con- 
tagion and  infection.  In  Shakespeare's  time,  "  Foul 
subordination  was  dominant."  To-day  it  is  ram- 
pant in  almost  every  state  in  the  Union.  It  shows 
itself  in  legislation  and  administration,  in  com- 
merce and  finance. 

Lawson  tells  us  an  appalling  story  of  financial 
chicanery  and  ruin;  good  men  at  the  head  of  vast 
industries  appropriate  the  money  of  the  people  to 
their  own  uses.  Steffens  tells  us  of  municipal  cor- 
ruption that  makes  the  story  of  Nero  and  Rome 
seem  cheap.  And  all  this  time  the  man  of  affairs 
will  allow  "  business  interests  "  to  corrupt  men  in 
places  of  authority,  while  he  shudders  and  stands 
aghast  at  the  wrongdoing  of  an  ordinary  crim- 
inal. 

We  boast  to-day  of  a  commercial  reign  unequaled 

287 

19 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

in  the  world's  history.  It  almost  equals  the  Bour- 
bon splendor  which  preceded  the  French  Revolution 
and  which  Carlyle  designated  as  the  rainbow  over 
Niagara.  It  may  be  that  our  era  of  commercial 
splendor  is  but  a  rainbow  over  our  own  Niagara. 
In  this  city  are  scores  of  multimillionaires.  In  it 
are  one  hundred  thousand  who  cloy  the  hungry 
edge  of  appetite  by  the  bare  imagination  of  a  feast. 

Not  all  this  is  due  to  our  political  or  commercial 
system,  but  in  a  measure  to  lack  of  personal  effort. 
But  there  is  much  on  which  the  hungry  can  predicate 
his  complaint.  Our  political  system  and  our  com- 
mercial system  are  out  of  tune.  The  tendency  of 
the  great  to  crush  the  small,  with  the  indifference 
of  the  elephant  to  the  worm,  is  too  common. 

False  capitalization  is  one  of  the  great  causes  that 
has  brought  a  shock  to  the  faith  of  the  people.  Wa- 
tered stock  is  the  mirage  in  the  desert  of  our  com- 
mercial life.  The  billion-dollar  steel-trust,  quoted 
at  75c  on  a  dollar  to-day  and  at  8c  to-morrow,  typi- 
fies the  class.  Watered  stock  has  become  a  com- 
mon phase  of  legalized  larceny.  If  the  mad  race  is 
to  stop  before  the  runner  falls,  corporate  business 
must  be  reorganized  on  a  rational  basis.  No  cor- 
poration should  be  permitted  by  law  to  issue  a  share 
of  stock  that  does  not  stand  for  paid-in  cash  and 
certified  to  by  state  examination.     Every  dollar  in- 

288 


COMMERCIAL  INTEGRITY 

vested  in  a  commercial  enterprise  should  earn  a  fair 
profit  and  every  investor  is  entitled  to  a  fair  rate  of 
interest  on  his  investment.  But  it  is  not  entitled  to 
a  rate  of  interest  and  profit  on  stock  which  has  no 
capital  basis. 

Public  service  corporations,  railway  corporations, 
and  other  corporations,  fix  a  charge  altogether  out 
of  proportion  to  the  investment.  I  have  in  mind  an 
electric  railway  company  with  250  miles  of  track, 
and  with  an  equipment  to  correspond,  which  earns 
five  to  seven  per  cent,  interest  and  dividends  on 
stocks  and  bonds  amounting  to  thirty  millions  of 
dollars.  If  it  cost  to  build  and  equip  the  road  as 
high  as  $30,000  per  mile,  or  a  total  of  $7,500,000, 
we  have  a  corporation  charging  the  public  and  col- 
lecting profits  on  an  inflation  or  franchise  value  four 
times  actual  cost.  This  practice  is  common  to  steam 
railway  companies  in  too  great  a  degree,  and  yet 
more  common  to  the  industrial  trusts. 

Added  to  the  gross  misuse  of  franchise  privileges, 
railways  are  guilty  of  the  still  worse  crime  of  dis- 
crimination. Is  it  a  wonder  that  the  President  has 
taken  up  the  war  of  the  people  to  regulate  transpor- 
tation charges?  Is  it  a  wonder  that  governors  of 
states  and  legislatures  are  stirring  themselves  to  cor- 
rect the  evil? 

The  corporation  based  on  an  inflated  value  com- 

289 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

plains  of  confiscation  when  the  matter  of  govern- 
mental control  is  suggested.  Governmental  con- 
trol is  coming  and  the  people  who  oppose  it  want 
to  remember  that  the  pendulum  has  been  too  long 
on  the  one  side.  When  it  comes  back  it  may  swing 
as  far  to  the  other  side.  Railway  interests  want  to 
bear  in  mind  that  if  governmental  control  is  too 
earnestly  resisted,  government  ownership  is  apt  to 
follow,  which  would  be  still  more  undesirable,  at 
least  from  their  standpoint. 

The  railroad  problem  specially  appeals  to  the 
great  Middle  West.  Chicago  is  the  greatest  rail- 
way hub  and  the  center  of  the  greatest  internal 
commerce  on  the  globe.  What  London  is  to 
ocean  commerce,  what  New  York  is  to  the  world's 
bank  clearings,  that  is  Chicago  to  internal  commerce 
carried  by  rail.  The  United  States  has  over  one- 
half  the  rail  mileage  of  the  globe,  and  the  lion's 
share  of  it  has  a  terminal  in  Chicago. 

Your  city  is  the  transcontinental  gateway  of  At- 
lantic-Pacific traffic.  The  gross  earnings  of  the 
railroads  which  enter  Chicago  were  enough  last 
year  to  pay  75  per  cent,  of  the  national  debt,  and 
greater  than  those  of  all  the  railroads  of  the  United 
Kingdom  by  over  $100,000,000.  Three  Chicago 
railroads  running  into  Minnesota  carry  alone  a 
freight  tonnage  greater  than  the  total  ocean  ton- 

290 


COMMERCIAL  INTEGRITY 

nage  of  the  United  States;  while  the  total  freight 
tonnage  of  all  roads  entering  Chicago  approximates 
the  ocean  tonnage  of  the  world. 

The  westward  trend  of  industrial  production  is 
told  by  the  significant  comparison,  that  in  1903  rail- 
roads doing  business  in  Massachusetts  showed  for 
entire  lines  gross  earnings  under  $100,000,000,  in 
New  York  something  over  $300,000,000,  and  in 
Illinois  close  upon  $700,000,000.  At  the  same  time, 
by  reason  of  greater  volume  of  traffic,  the  average 
rate  per  ton  per  mile  was  40  per  cent,  lower  in  Illi- 
nois than  in  Massachusetts. 

In  the  settlement  of  the  great  railway  problem 
of  America  it  is  plain  that  this  nation  must  look, 
not  to  the  Atlantic  Coast,  which  now  controls  our 
stock  markets  and  national  legislation,  but  to  the 
great  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  which  already  sup- 
ports as  many  people  as  Great  Britain,  with  a  farm 
product  equal  to  that  of  France  and  Germany  com- 
bined, and  a  railway  mileage  which  approximates 
that  of  the  entire  continent  of  Europe. 

Railroad  discrimination,  namely,  the  rebate  and 
the  private  car,  has  brought  into  existence,  with 
headquarters  in  Chicago,  one  of  the  most  powerful 
trusts  on  the  globe,  the  great  beef  trust,  which  by 
control  of  the  refrigerator  car  service  of  America 
fixes  both  the  purchase  and  selling  prices  not  only 

291 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

of  live  stock  and  meat,  but  of  fruit  and  dairy  pro- 
duce, vegetables  and  game,  robbing  producer  and 
consumer  alike,  and  forcing  the  retail  dealers  of  the 
land  to  become  its  army  of  obedient  agents. 

Rail  rebate  plus  special  tariff  privilege  and  mo- 
nopoly of  natural  resources  have  created  Standard 
Oil  and  the  coal  combine,  which  levy  upon  American 
homes  and  business  a  volume  of  tolls  sufficient  to 
yield  20  per  cent,  to  40  per  cent,  dividends  upon  a 
colossal  capitalization. 

Rail  rebate  and  control  plus  special  tariff  priv- 
ilege and  monopoly  of  natural  resources  have  pro- 
duced the  United  States  Steel  Corporation,  which 
declares  dividends  upon  a  threefold  watering  of  the 
capital  of  its  constituent  companies  by  doubling  the 
price  of  iron  and  steel  to  the  American  consumer 
while  selling  its  products  abroad  at  one-third  less 
than  the  American  price. 

You  wonder  at  the  unrest  of  the  people.  In  a 
county  in  my  state  are  the  greatest  iron  mines  in 
the  world.  On  the  Mesabi  nature  has  been  so  lav- 
ish of  her  wealth  that  great  open  pits  a  half-mile 
to  a  mile  in  diameter  are  mined  with  steam  shovels 
and  railroad  trains,  as  you  would  mine  earth  from 
a  gravel  pit ;  a  single  steam  shovel  loading  800  tons 
an  hour  and  sending  three  to  four  trainloads  of  high 
grade  ore  to  the  Lake  Superior  docks  in  a  day.     In 

292 


COMMERCIAL  INTEGRITY 

twenty- four  hours  last  summer  one  of  the  Mesabi 
mines  loaded  440  cars  with  19,000  long  tons,  or  ten 
trainloads  of  44  cars  to  the  train.  The  soft  ore  of 
the  Mesabi  is  mined  as  easily  and  cheaply  as  sand. 
The  labor  cost  is  about  10  cents  per  ton;  while  the 
great  steel  trust  which  operates  the  mines  is  pro- 
tected by  a  tariff  of  25  cents  per  ton  from  "  the 
pauper  labor  of  Europe." 

But  the  steel  trust  owns  the  two  principal  ore 
carrying  roads,  and  the  rate  for  hauling  the  ore  75 
miles  to  the  lake  for  shipment  to  eastern  furnaces 
has  been  fixed  so  high  that  the  independent  mine 
owner  is  either  robbed  of  the  profits  of  mining  or 
compelled  to  sell  his  mine  to  the  hungry  syndicate 
which  controls  both  the  mining  industry  and  trans- 
portation. One  of  these  iron  range  roads,  which 
operates  only  210  miles  of  track,  voted  itself  last 
year  a  dividend  of  $4,500,000  or  over  150  per  cent, 
upon  its  common  stock;  and  the  other,  operating 
169  miles  of  track,  distributed  a  dividend  of  $3,657,- 
750,  or  149  per  cent,  upon  its  stock  outstanding. 

The  two  non-competing  parallel  roads,  operating 
an  aggregate  of  379  miles  of  track,  issued  a  dividend 
total  of  more  than  $8,000,000,  or  upwards  of  $20,- 
000  per  mile,  which  is  more  than  twice  the  gross 
earnings,  nearly  eight  times  the  net  earnings,  and 
close  upon  twenty  times  the  dividends  per  mile  of 

293 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

the  average  American  railroad.  And  yet  this  same 
billion-dollar  corporation,  with  all  its  extortionate 
charges,  with  its  dividends  upon  an  ocean  of  wa- 
tered stock,  and  its  control  of  the  iron  and  steel  in- 
dustry of  the  nation,  adds  insult  to  injury  by  de- 
manding national  bounty  and  protection,  and  has 
actually  secured  at  the  hands  of  Congress  for  the 
protection  of  its  practices  more  pages  of  American 
tariff  schedules  than  perhaps  all  the  infant  indus- 
tries of  the  United  States  combined. 

Is  it  not  time  that  the  law  of  the  land  was  in- 
voked for  the  protection  of  the  common  citizen,  in- 
stead of  for  such  a  corporation  and  such  practices? 
Is  it  not  time  that  the  functions  of  government  were 
employed  for  more  legitimate  uses?  Is  it  not  time 
the  authority  of  the  nation  is  exercised  to  prevent, 
instead  of  to  protect,  such  discrimination  and  spe- 
cial privilege?  Rate  discrimination,  monopoly  of 
natural  resources,  fictitious  capitalization,  special 
tariff  bounties  and  transportation  rebates  have  been 
promoted  under  the  cloak  of  law  until  the  public 
conscience  is  in  revolt. 

Surrender  of  government  functions  to  private 
corporations  under  guise  of  protecting  the  national 
welfare  cannot  much  longer  receive  the  sanction  of 
an   intelligent  people  who  believe  the  government 

294 


COMMERCIAL  INTEGRITY 

was  instituted  for  the  protection  of  life,  liberty  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness.  As  long  as  government 
is  the  fountain  of  special  privileges,  powerful  in- 
terests will  dominate  legislation,  law  will  be  dic- 
tated by  the  corrupt  lobby,  corporations  will  control 
legislators  and  even  judges,  and  executives  will  be- 
tray their  trusts.  As  long  as  the  law  of  the  land  is 
made  the  source  of  corporate  dividends,  the  cam- 
paign contributions  of  corporate  interests  will  con- 
trol political  conventions  and  the  party  machine  for 
the  nomination  and  election  of  its  candidates,  and 
our  so-called  "  public  servants "  will  be  private 
agents  for  the  public  undoing.  There  is  just  one 
remedy  for  official  bribery  and  campaign  corruption, 
and  that  is,  to  remove  the  motive  by  cutting  off  all 
government  grants  of  special  privilege.  The  en- 
forced guaranty  of  equal  rights  to  all  will  free  the 
party  organization  from  corporate  grasp  and  re- 
store it  to  the  common  people. 

The  Republican  voter  is  no  more  and  no  less  to 
blame  than  the  Democrat.  Francis  of  Assisi  was 
as  honest  and  as  religious  as  Luther.  The  Bernar- 
dine  monk  was  as  sincere  as  Knox.  The  hope  is 
not  in  the  Democrat  or  Republican,  as  a  follower  of 
the  party  of  his  choice,  but  in  the  man  who  believes 
his   country   is   greater  than  his   party  and   is  not 

295 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

afraid  of  the  charge  of  heresy  —  the  man  in  the 
office,  shop  and  field,  whose  patriotism  and  moral 
fiber  respond  to  the  nation's  need. 

The  Republic  is  in  no  danger  from  the  man  who, 
following  the  plow,  hums,  "  My  country,  't  is  of 
thee."  He  does  not  understand  the  awful  harmony 
of  Wagner,  but  he  knows  and  feels  the  melody  of 
the  folk-song,  the  tunes  which  soften  the  heart  and 
make  men  good  and  great.  This  man  may  be  slow, 
but  a  lion  when  aroused.  To-day  he  is  enlisting 
in  the  nation's  struggle  for  honest  government,  and 
he  will  win.  The  Republic  is  in  no  danger  of  ruin 
or  decay.  The  tax  dodger,  the  boodler,  the  assas- 
sin of  state  and  national  honor  may  strike  at  the 
public  welfare;  the  nation  will  grow  in  glory  and 
power  because  of  the  manhood  of  its  common  citi- 
zenship. The  country  will  survive,  through  the 
courage  and  loyalty  of  voters  regardless  of  party, 
who  will  uplift  the  hands  of  a  president  in  his  de- 
sire to  do  right  and  uphold  the  majesty  of  the  law. 

Through  the  very  robbery  of  the  citizen  by  the 
corporate  trust,  the  nation  may  be  aroused  and 
clothed  with  power.  The  mountain  hunter  may 
send  an  eagle  fluttering  down  the  crags,  but  the 
nestling  brood  in  the  eerie  will  rise  to  greater 
heights.     The  bounding  doe  may  be  arrested  in  her 

296 


COMMERCIAL  INTEGRITY 

race  for  life,  but  the  Matterhorn  will  still  lift  its 
cap  of  snow  to  a  peace  beyond  the  clouds. 

We  are  confronted  with  vast  opportunities  and 
responsibilities,  and  with  lost  ground  to  recover.  A 
bad  economic  policy  and  political  treachery  cost  us 
the  benefits  of  commercial  freedom  with  Canada. 
Had  we  been  fair  and  decent  with  our  sister  coun- 
try across  the  boundary,  the  trade  of  Canada  would 
have  been  ours,  and  commercially  if  not  politically 
the  two  countries  would  have  been  one.  We  are 
told  it  is  now  too  late.  Canada  has  grown  away 
from  us,  instead  of  toward  us.  A  false  policy  has 
robbed  us  of  our  own.  Congressmen  elected  to  rep- 
resent our  interests  in  reciprocity  with  Canada  have 
gone  to  Washington  in  the  interests  of  a  pine-land 
combine  and  worked  to  make  reciprocity  impossible. 

The  American  flag  ought  now  to  float  over  all 
North  America;  but  that  union  either  politically  or 
commercially  can  never  take  place  until  a  larger 
patriotism  can  rise  above  political  cant  and  private 
greed. 

Forsaking  the  old  ideals,  we  are  confronted  with 
a  centralized  commercialism  more  than  feudal  in 
its  power.  The  principles  of  Washington,  Jeffer- 
son and  Lincoln  are  supplanted  by  the  influences  of 
Harriman,  Armour  and  Rockefeller.     The  Consti- 

297 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

tution  no  longer  goes  with  the  flag ;  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  is  pictured  as  a  relic  of  the  past. 
The  great  commoner  from  the  Sangamon  broke  the 
chains  of  the  millions  and  released  them  from  slav- 
ery to  grow  into  a  condition  of  humiliation.  Wash- 
ington founded  a  nation,  and  his  people  submit  to 
commercial  serfdom. 

Our  Republic  rests  on  the  freedom  and  purity  of 
the  ballot;  and  Montana  boasts  the  election  of  a 
delegate  to  a  national  convention  at  the  cost  of 
$100,000.  The  Governor  of  Wisconsin  declares 
that  corporate  wealth  owns  his  state;  and  Standard 
Oil  appears  on  the  troubled  waters  of  Chicago.  In 
the  Kremlin,  fear  of  revolution  blanches  the  cheek 
of  the  Czar;  in  our  country,  there  are  embers  that 
might  be  fanned  into  flame. 

Our  duty  is  to  prevent  conflagration  by  stopping 
the  manufacture  of  inflammable  material.  The 
price  of  good  government  is  good  citizenship,  even 
at  the  sacrifice  of  party  affiliation.  Will  you  do 
your  share,  and  will  I  do  mine? 

Let  us  here  dedicate  ourselves  to  the  Republic's 
upbuilding,  to  the  reconstruction  of  party  and  of 
national  policy  on  broader  and  bigger  plans.  Let  us 
demand  leadership  consecrated  to  the  public  weal 
by  the  strong  and  simple  ties  of  common  honesty, 
equality  and  manhood.     Let  us  consecrate  our  efforts 

298 


COMMERCIAL  INTEGRITY 

to  uphold  the  majesty  of  the  law  by  enforcing  its 
observance  upon  the  most  powerful  as  upon  the 
humble. 

Political  parties  will  survive,  but  let  it  be  a  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest.  I  care  not  for  the  name  of 
the  party  I  choose,  so  long  as  it  stands  for  the 
rights  of  the  people. 

Politically  the  name  of  America  is  a  world  power 
—  the  power  of  justice,  equality  and  freedom.  In- 
dustrially America  is  a  world  power  —  with  manu- 
factures and  agriculture  greater  than  those  of  any 
two  other  nations,  and  supplying  machines  and 
food  to  all  peoples.  Commercially  the  United 
States  is  a  world  power  —  with  an  internal  com- 
merce developed  under  freedom  of  trade  between 
the  states  to  a  volume  many  times  greater  than  the 
foreign  commerce  of  all  nations. 

At  this  hour  we  stand  in  possession  of  the  gate- 
ways to  the  great  trade  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  which 
in  half  a  century  may  rival  that  of  the  Atlantic. 
The  construction  of  the  Isthmian  canal  will  place 
America  in  control  of  the  trade  channel  between 
Europe  and  Asia.  For  commercial  expansion  north 
and  south  we  have  the  Dominion  of  Canada  at  our 
northern  doors  and  South  and  Central  America  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  The  commercial  fed- 
eration of  America  is  our  opportunity  and  duty. 

299 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

The  Isthmian  canal  may  serve  as  an  invaluable 
regulator  of  transcontinental  railroad  rates.  The 
chief  engineer  of  the  government  war  department 
estimates  that  the  "  Soo  "  canal  and  lake  transpor- 
tation save  the  shippers  of  America  $30,000,000 
per  annum  as  compared  with  rail  rates.  What  then 
may  be  the  effect  of  the  Panama  Canal  in  reducing 
rates  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  seaboards? 

The  world  is  undergoing  transformation.  In  the 
far  east  there  are  800,000,000  people  waking  from 
centuries  of  lethargy  to  become  a  world  power. 
On  the  steppes  of  Russia  the  toiling  millions  are  ris- 
ing with  dreams  of  constitutional  liberty.  In  Amer- 
ica the  patriotism  and  intelligence  of  the  greatest 
people  on  the  earth  demand  the  divorce  of  govern- 
ment from  plutocracy  and  paternalism.  The  pes- 
simist finds  much  in  the  present  situation  on  which 
to  base  his  lack  of  faith  in  our  institutions,  but 
the  conditions  which  afford  him  opportunity  for  ex- 
ultation will  be  dissipated  by  future  events. 

The  turn  of  the  optimist  is  near  at  hand.  The 
tempest  is  raging  now,  but  when  the  winds  have 
spent  their  force  the  troubled  waters  will  again  be 
smooth.  Ours  is  a  new  country.  Our  West  has 
been  created  within  the  memory  of  men  still  living. 
Our  development  knows  no  parallel  in  history.  Out 
of  the  present   industrial   and  political  chaos   will 

300 


COMMERCIAL  INTEGRITY 

come  order.  The  yeomanry  of  the  land  struck 
for  liberty  at  Bunker  Hill.  They  brought  the  ship 
of  state  through  the  awful  night  of  Civil  War. 
They  are  responding  to  a  new  call  of  duty  and 
through  them  will  come  the  reclamation  and  re- 
generation of  the  nation. 

It  will  not  come  from  the  extremist  who  does 
not  believe  in  government.  It  will  not  come  from 
the  theorist  who  believes  commercial  progress  is 
wrong.  It  will  not  come  from  those  who  deny  the 
property  rights  of  others.  But  it  will  come  through 
the  sober  common  sense  of  those  toilers  who  create 
the  wealth  so  essential  to  our  prosperity  as  a  na- 
tion and  as  individuals.  It  will  come,  not  through 
excitement,  anger  or  hate,  but  after  a  calm  study 
of  the  true  conditions  and  a  fearless  determination 
to  arrive  at  what  is  best  for  all  the  people. 

The  true  grandeur  of  the  nation  will  assert  it- 
self; if  not  to-day,  then  to-morrow.  An  enlight- 
ened and  quickened  conscience  has  issued  the  Amer- 
ican doctrine  —  Equal  rights  to  all ;  special  privi- 
lege to  none. 


301 


THE  NORSEMEN 

AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  AT  ST.  PAUL,  MINN.,  ON  THE 
NATIONAL  HOLIDAY  OF  NORSEMEN,  MAY  I  J,    I905 

HONORED  by  your  invitation  to  take  part  in 
the  proceedings  of  this  your  annual  festival, 
I  think  I  may  as  governor  of  the  great  state  of  Min- 
nesota bring  to  you  the  greetings  and  good  wishes 
of  all  the  people. 

You  have  much  cause  for  congratulation  in  the 
celebration  of  the  event  which  brought  to  your  an- 
cestors and  their  descendants  that  constitutional  lib- 
erty so  dear  to  people  every  where.  The  Treaty  of 
Kiel  is  an  historical  fact  and  growing  out  of  it  came 
that  assertion  of  a  nation  which  brought  about  na- 
tional independence  even  under  a  monarchy.  That 
assertion  resulted  in  an  agreement  which  culminated 
in  the  granting  of  a  Constitution  on  May  17th, 
18 14,  which  guaranteed  to  Norway  and  to  Nor- 
wegians constitutional  freedom  and  liberty. 

It  is  needless  for  me  to  dwell  upon  the  past  his- 
tory of  the  land  of  your  birth.     Of  that  you  are 

302 


THE  NORSEMEN 

better  informed  than  I,  but  I  think  I  may,  with  due 
propriety,  refer  to  the  heroic  deeds  of  the  old  Norse- 
men who  for  centuries  were  masters  of  the  sea,  of 
those  splendid  navigators  who,  with  Lief  Ericsson 
as  their  leader,  opened  up  the  westward  course  of 
Empire  that  others  might  follow ;  cruising  the  bil- 
lowed water,  conquering  France,  England  and  Italy, 
showing  always  heroism,  bravery,  valor  and  dis- 
dain for  danger.  And  throughout  all  of  their  con- 
quests, possessing  a  virtue  born  in  a  people  of  high 
ideals. 

Brave  they  were,  and  to  their  credit  be  it  said 
that  in  all  their  warfare  they  never  attacked  an  un- 
armed foe  or  made  war  upon  the  weak  or  defense- 
less. 

This  evening  you  celebrate  the  independence  won 
by  your  forefathers.  The  great  significance  of  the 
day  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  marked  a  milestone  in  the 
onward  march  of  liberty  —  the  freedom  of  the 
people  —  the  uplifting  of  the  masses  —  the  exten- 
sion of  popular  government. 

They  kindled  the  same  kind  of  fire  that  spread 
over  New  England  during  our  own  revolutionary 
period.  Groaning  under  the  yoke  of  bondage,  they 
yearned  for  that  thing  desired  by  every  big,  strong 
man  —  Liberty.  As  in  the  case  of  our  forefathers, 
they  secured  the  greatest  of  boons,  the  right  to  live 

20 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

and  act  with  the  freedom  that  becomes  the  sover- 
eign citizen. 

Not  wishing  to  dwell  at  length  on  the  events  of 
the  past,  permit  me  to  speak  for  one  brief  moment 
on  the  part  the  Scandinavian  people  have  played  in 
the  development  of  our  own  state  and  country. 
Pioneers  in  the  settlement  of  the  great  Northwest, 
they  have  become  foremost  in  the  splendid  citizen- 
ship which  makes  the  North  Star  State  so  proud  of 
its  own  position  in  the  constellation.  When  the 
awful  night  of  civil  war  came  upon  this  nation, 
the  sons  of  Norway  and  Sweden  did  their  full  share 
in  bringing  order  out  of  chaos  and  of  erecting  again 
the  structure  of  a  unified  national  government. 
Whole  regiments,  whole  companies  and  individual 
soldiers  enlisted  under  the  flag  of  their  adopted 
country  to  do  or  to  die  for  the  cause  of  freedom 
here,  as  their  ancestors  had  in  the  old  days  in  the 
lands  beyond  the  seas.  The  Scandinavian  hated 
bondage  in  the  old  world  —  he  fought  to  destroy 
the  chains  that  bound  men  in  the  new. 

How  much  the  Norseman  has  contributed  to  the 
development  of  our  great  state  none  can  measure. 
In  the  field  of  commerce  he  has  taken  a  position  in 
the  very  forefront  and  has  grown  to  be  an  honored 
and  respected  member  of  this  community.     In  the 

304 


THE  NORSEMEN 

field  of  education  he  no  longer  follows,  but  has 
become  a  leader.  His  college  and  academy  have 
become  monuments  to  his  glory,  and  monuments  in 
which  all  the  state  feels  a  just  and  pardonable  pride. 
In  the  domain  of  religious  thought  and  action  he 
stands  side  by  side  with  the  giants  who  stand  for 
moral  worth,  the  uplift  of  the  community  and  the 
reclamation  of  man. 

All  these  mark  their  high  advancement  as  a  people 
and  are  resultants  of  an  inherent  sense  which 
clamors  for  the  higher  ideal. 

The  day  was  in  our  own  state  and  within  our  own 
recollection  when  the  Scandinavian  was  not  a  factor 
in  the  body  politic.  They  have  not  only  fought 
their  way  to  success,  but  in  the  fairness  of  their 
fighting  have  won  the  respect  and  regard  of  all 
people,  and  to-night,  as  a  son  of  Scandinavian  emi- 
grants, I  am  before  you  as  governor  of  the  state. 

I  wish  I  might  be  possessed  of  that  eloquence 
which  might  fittingly  describe  their  sturdiness  of 
manhood,  their  patriotism,  their  love  for  law  and 
order,  their  fear  of  God,  and  their  independence. 
But  their  virtues  are  acknowledged  and  their  service 
to  the  state  and  its  development  are  too  well  known 
to  require  commendation.  The  names  of  Lind  and 
Nelson,  Rice  and  Smith,  Wahlstrom  and  Sverdrup, 

305 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

Norelius  and  Stub,  and  hundreds  more  have  become 
household  words  to  all  our  people.  Whether  as 
governor  or  senator,  whether  in  the  pulpit  or  the 
school,  whether  in  the  field  or  store,  they  have 
acquitted  themselves  with  a  fidelity  and  trust  that 
earns  the  praise  of  "  well  done,  thou  good  and  faith- 
ful servant." 

The  day  was  when  the  old  spirit  of  opposition 
obtained  here  among  the  sons  of  Norway  and 
Sweden  as  it  had  once  in  the  Fatherland.  To-day 
that  opposition  has  faded  away.  We  now  stand 
united  for  the  common  cause,  dedicating  ourselves 
to  the  glory  of  our  country,  to  the  betterment  of 
society  and  for  the  help  that  each  man  owes  to  his 
neighbor.  Hate  has  given  way  to  love  and  respect. 
Discord  has  been  replaced  by  a  unionism  which 
augurs  well  for  our  future. 

A  nation  is  no  better  and  no  worse  than  the 
people  who  constitute  that  nation.  Striving  for 
the  highest  ideals  in  our  civil  and  religious  life,  the 
sons  of  Scandinavia  are  united  in  the  struggle  for 
that  citizenship  through  which  nations  endure  and 
realize  their  true  grandeur. 

Swedish-American  and  Norwegian-American 
alike  deplore  and  regret  that  differences  have  arisen 
in  the  Fatherland  which  may  in  some  sense  mar 
the   unity   of  the   Scandinavian  people  in  the   old 

306 


THE  NORSEMEN 

peninsula  and  those  differences  find  no  responsive 
chord  or  echo  in  the  hearts  of  sons  in  this  land. 
They  find  no  harbor  or  anchorage  among  their 
sons  and  brethren  in  this  new  home  where  we  have 
come  to  know  each  other  better,  to  love  each  other 
more,  and  to  build  better  and  freer  homes. 

I  wish  I  might  send  a  message  to  the  warring 
elements  in  Norway  and  Sweden.  I  would  tell 
them  to  bind  up  their  wounds,  heal  their  differences, 
grow  into  a  closer  union,  and  build  up  a  united 
nation  in  the  land  where  the  sun  shines  in  the 
middle  of  the  night,  which  might  guarantee  equal 
rights  to  all  Scandinavians  and  command  that  love 
and  respect  in  the  group  of  nations  which  would 
bring  happiness  and  contentment  to  all  their  people. 
I  would  have  all  their  people  free  and  equal  and 
would  have  the  ruler  of  the  land  so  fair  and  firm 
that  all  would  rejoice  in  the  birth  of  a  new  nation 
and  the  dawn  of  an  era  of  freedom  that  would 
grow  into  a  glorious  day  for  Scandinavia. 


30/ 


RAILWAY  AND  OTHER  CORPORATION 
PROBLEMS 

EXCERPTS  FROM  AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  BY  GOV- 
ERNOR JOHNSON  BEFORE  THE  MINNESOTA  MU- 
NICIPAL LEAGUE  AT  ST.  PAUL,  JAN.  IO,  I906 

THE  question  of  municipal  ownership  is  one 
which  is  spreading  over  the  country  as  a 
prairie  fire.  The  wisdom  of  municipalities  con- 
trolling their  own  public  service  utilities  is  certainly 
one  of  direct  and  vital  concern  to  you  and  to  your 
people. 

I  cannot  let  this  opportunity  pass  without  the  re- 
mark that  the  people  of  a  municipality  are  entitled 
to  their  water,  their  light,  and  kindred  other  service, 
at  the  cost  of  that  service. 

A  city  controlling  the  streets  and  other  highways, 
which  has  the  right  to  confer  a  chartered  privilege 
upon  private  individuals  to  control  these  utilities, 
ought  to  bear  in  mind  that,  as  a  purely  business 
proposition,  it  is  wise  and  prudent  that  it  con- 
trol its  own  public  service  utilities.  Students  of 
economics  have  proved  conclusively  that  the  service 

308 


CORPORATION  PROBLEMS 

to  the  people  is  always  better  and  supplied  at  a  lesser 
cost  when  supplied  by  the  city  direct  than  when  sup- 
plied by  private  individuals  under  a  chartered  or  cor- 
poration right,  and  every  city  should  think  well  be- 
fore it  parts  with  these  great  privileges. 

As  a  Municipal  League,  composed  of  delegates 
representing  the  smaller  cities  of  our  great  state,  I 
take  it  that  no  function  could  be  more  important  or 
sacred  to  you  than  to  consider  the  problem  of  trans- 
portation and  to  devise  means  whereby  your  com- 
munities and  the  citizens  represented  by  you  should 
be  fairly  treated  by  the  great  common  carriers  upon 
which  you  largely  depend  for  convenience  and  for 
prosperity. 

The  remedy  for  many  evils  is  the  ballot,  properly 
and  effectively  used  —  not  with  the  blindness  of 
party  spirit  or  to  promote  the  interests  of  individuals 
—  but  used  with  the  broader  idea  of  promoting  the 
general  welfare  and  securing  a  more  perfect  civili- 
zation, based,  as  it  must  be,  on  the  principles  of 
justice,  equality  and  fairness. 

One  of  the  greatest  problems  of  the  present  time, 
and  one  of  the  most  vital  concern  to  the  people  rep- 
resented by  you,  is  that  of  railway  transportation 
and  the  regulation,  or  rather  the  securing  of  proper 
tariff  rates  for  the  same.  The  nation  is  astir  to-day 
and  the  eyes  of  all  the  people  are  centered  upon  the 

309 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

Congress  of  the  United  States,  waiting  with  breath- 
less interest  to  see  whether  the  great  representative 
of  the  people  shall  have  the  hearty  support  and  con- 
currence of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  in  his 
laudable  effort  to  secure  the  right  of  the  people  to 
regulate  the  rates  of  transportation.  On  every 
hand  we  hear  the  common  cry  that  there  is  no 
remedy  in  the  law.  On  every  hand  we  hear  the 
cry  that  it  is  not  a  proper  function  of  government 
to  control  and  regulate  common  carriers.  On  every 
hand  we  hear  the  cry  that  the  sacred  right  of  con- 
tract cannot  be  impaired.  We  are  met  constantly 
with  the  claim  that  the  vested  and  chartered  right  of 
the  corporation  cannot  be  assailed,  regulated  or 
abridged.  Fortunately,  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  has  rendered  a  decision  that  "  the  superin- 
tending power  over  the  highways  and  the  charges 
upon  the  public  for  their  use  always  remain  in  the 
government.  This  is  not  only  its  indefeasible  right, 
but  is  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  people 
against  extortion  and  abuse.  These  positions  we 
deem  to  be  incontrovertible.  Indeed,  they  are  ad- 
judged the  law  in  the  decisions  of  this  court.  Rail- 
roads and  railroad  corporations  are  in  this  cate- 
gory." If  this  decision  of  the  court  be  true,  cer- 
tainly the  government  which  has  the  right  to  confer 
a  charter,  which  has  the  right  to  dispose  of  the  pub- 

310 


CORPORATION  PROBLEMS 

lie  domain,  which  has  the  right  to  confer  great  privi- 
leges upon  a  corporation,  must  have  the  right  to 
regulate  and  control  that  corporation  in  its  opera- 
tions. 

A  few  weeks  ago  I  listened  to  strange  and  remark- 
able language  from  one  of  the  members  of  the  In- 
terstate Commerce  Commission.  In  the  language 
of  the  pessimist  who  sees  no  hope,  in  the  language 
of  one  who  feels  nothing  but  despair,  he  gives  voice 
to  the  opinion  and  to  the  belief  that  there  is  and  will 
be  no  relief  in  the  law.  He  says :  "  The  men  who 
serve  in  the  cabinet,  on  the  bench,  and  even  upon  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  are  generally 
lawyers  who  have  received  in  their  professional  life 
the  retainers  of  corporations.  They  cannot  be  ex- 
pected to  change  their  prejudices  and  habits  of 
thought  on  coming  into  place  and  power.  No  gov- 
ernment machinery  will  regulate  monopoly.  When 
men  worship  the  almighty  dollar,  it  will  rule  them." 

I  think  that  all  appreciate  that  these  are  peculiar 
times.  We  know  and  realize  that  at  no  time  in  the 
history  of  the  world  have  a  few  men  become  so 
powerful  because  of  their  great  possession  of  wealth. 
We  are  told  by  the  statistician  that  5,000  men  own 
one-third  of  the  property  of  the  United  States. 
We  are  told  by  the  statisticians  that  if  the  same  ratio 
of  increase  continues,  in  less  than  half  a  century 

3ii 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

these  same  men  will  own  practically  all  the  property 
of  the  country.  Owning  one-third  of  the  property 
of  the  country  to-day,  they  positively  control  the 
affairs  of  the  country.  They  fix  the  price  of  trans- 
portation, they  arbitrarily  fix  the  price  of  things  that 
we  buy,  and  they  arbitrarily  fix  the  price  of  the 
things  we  produce  and  sell. 

The  great  curse  of  the  country  to-day  is  in  the 
fictitious  valuations  placed  upon  property  and  the 
fact  that  the  American  people  must  by  their  energy 
and  economy  pay  tribute  to  this  kind  of  genius  by 
paying  a  rate  of  interest  and  profit  on  property 
which  has  no  existence. 

Illustrations  have  been  numerous  where  a  man 
or  syndicate  of  men  have  taken  a  million  dollars' 
worth  of  property  and,  by  writing  new  certificates, 
have  converted  it  into  five  millions  of  dollars'  worth 
of  property;  where  one  hundred  million  dollars' 
worth  of  industrials  have  been  combined  into  one 
enterprise,  and  by  the  issuance  of  certificates  have 
been  enhanced  in  value  400  per  cent.  And  the 
American  people  pay  a  reasonable  rate  of  interest 
and  profit  on  the  stocks  and  bonds  of  the  watered 
stock  of  the  corporation. 

What  has  been  true  in  the  industrial  world  has 
been  equally  true  in  the  world  of  transportation. 
Combinations  have  been  made  and  new  shares  of 

312 


CORPORATION  PROBLEMS 

stock  have  been  issued  far  in  excess  of  the  actual 
value  of  the  property.  I  believe  in  corporations. 
I  believe  the  American  people  ought  to  pay  a  reason- 
able rate  of  interest  and  a  fair  profit  on  all  legiti- 
mate classes  of  property.  I  believe,  however,  that 
the  American  people  ought  to  pay  only  upon  the 
actual  value  of  the  property  and  not  upon  the  in- 
flation. 

During  the  past  decade  we  have  been  shown  by 
illustration  after  illustration  that  the  American  peo- 
ple, absolutely  within  the  power  of  a  few  individ- 
uals, have  been  compelled  to  pay,  both  in  the  matter 
of  transportation  and  upon  industrial  products,  a 
rate  of  profit  altogether  out  of  harmony  with  nat- 
ural and  just  conditions.  And  this  condition  has 
become  so  exaggerated  and  the  financial  autocrat 
has  exercised  his  tyranny  to  such  an  extent  that 
those  in  authority  have  been  forced  to  undertake  the 
cause  of  the  people.  To-day  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  disregarding  all  other  issues,  is  con- 
centrating his  energies  to  secure  the  power  for  the 
people  to  fix  and  establish  just  rates  of  transporta- 
tion upon  all  common  carriers. 

We  are  told  that  these  things  are  impossible  under 
the  law.  A  half  century  ago  the  people  were  told 
that  the  sovereign  right  of  a  state  could  not  be  in- 
terfered  with.     They  were   also   told   that  human 

313 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

chattels  were  property,  the  right  to  hold  which  could 
not  be  interfered  with.  And  yet,  by  the  single 
stroke  of  his  pen  a  man  destroyed  three  thousand 
million  dollars'  worth  of  property  and  created  three 
millions  of  freemen. 

I  believe  in  the  obligation  of  contract.  I  believe 
that  it  should  not  and  ought  not  to  be  impaired. 
But  I  believe  that  when  the  chartered  corporation, 
going  beyond  its  chartered  rights,  refuses  to  abide 
by  the  laws  under  which  it  has  its  existence  and  re- 
ceives protection,  it  can  be  regulated  and,  if  neces- 
sary, secured  to  the  people  who  have  given  it  life. 

There  are  vast  numbers  of  people  in  this  country 
to-day  who  believe  that  the  government  of  the  coun- 
try should  own  and  operate  its  common  carriers. 
Certainly  the  time  is  not  ripe  to-day  for  government 
ownership,  but  I  want  to  say  now  that  if  the  right 
of  the  government  to  regulate  and  control  common 
carriers  in  the  exercise  of  their  functions  is  too 
stubbornly  resisted  by  those  who  control  the  corpo- 
rations, the  pendulum  will  finally  become  loosed  and 
when  it  swings  it  is  apt  to  pass  by  the  central  point 
and  fly  as  far  to  the  other  side. 

I  cannot  believe  that  the  chartered  right  of  a 
corporation  is  greater  than  the  constitutional  right 
of  the  citizen,  and  I  do  not  think  it  is  American  in 
policy  to  tax  the  American  people  into  poverty  in 

3H 


CORPORATION  PROBLEMS 

order  that  great  dividends  can  be  paid  to  the  Eng- 
lish and  German  capitalists  who  have  invested  in 
the  stocks  and  bonds  of  the  securities  of  this  coun- 
try. It  is  a  settled  principle  of  the  common  law 
of  the  country  that  all  railroad  rates  shall  be  just 
and  reasonable. 

No  uniform  rule  has  yet  been  adopted,  and  in  my 
judgment  no  rule  will  be  adopted  until  the  power 
is  given  by  the  government  to  fix  rates  that  are 
reasonable  and  to  establish  those  rates  and  main- 
tain them  until  a  court  of  justice  has  declared  that 
the  rate  is  unreasonable. 

Railroad  operators  claim  that  in  the  operation  of 
railways  railroad  men  should  be  allowed  to  fix  their 
own  rates  of  transportation,  because  the  matter  of 
railroad  rate  making  is  such  an  intricate  and  com- 
plex subject  that  the  ordinary  individual  does  not 
understand  it.  Perhaps  he  does  not  understand  it, 
but  the  ordinary  individual  does  understand  that 
between  human  beings,  between  the  citizens  of  the 
state,  between  capital  and  labor,  between  the  busi- 
ness man  and  the  man  who  works,  there  should  be  a 
community  of  interest  which  makes  the  rights  of 
one  citizen  as  sacred  and  important  as  the  rights  of 
the  other  —  that  there  should  be  between  us  all  that 
fairness  which  is  absolutely  necessary  and  impera- 
tive in  order  to  preserve  domestic  tranquillity. 

315 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

You,  my  friends,  have  more  than  a  political  in- 
terest in  this  great  question.  It  is  a  question  com- 
ing with  a  force  and  interest  that  ought  to  appeal  to 
you  as  does  no  other  question  now  before  the  Amer- 
ican people.  It  is  within  the  power  of  a  railroad 
corporation  to  build  up  one  city  and  tear  down  an- 
other city.  It  is  within  the  power  of  railroad  com- 
panies and  railroad  systems  to  favor  one  community 
at  the  expense  of  another  community.  It  seems  to 
be  the  function  and  the  desire  of  railroad  corpora- 
tions to  build  up  the  great  centers  of  population 
from  which  they  radiate.  No  great  center  of  popu- 
lation can  flourish  and  thrive  except  it  flourishes  and 
thrives  upon  the  smaller  municipalities  and  upon 
the  agricultural  communities.  The  railroads  of  our 
own  state  and  of  the  Northwest  have  not  shown  to 
the  rural  communities  the  consideration  to  which 
they  are  justly  entitled.  Corporations  doing  busi- 
ness in  this  great  state  have  grown  prosperous  and 
have  thrived  upon  the  common  people.  It  has  been 
argued  that  these  arteries  of  commerce  have  done 
much  for  the  development  of  this  great  state.  That 
certainly  is  true,  but  it  must  also  be  remembered 
that  without  the  agricultural  regions,  without  the 
rural  communities  and  the  smaller  municipalities, 
the  railroad  could  not  have  thrived.  And  as  they 
have  grown  great  and  strong,  it  seems  to  me  they 

316 


CORPORATION  PROBLEMS 

have  grown  less  fair  to  those  upon  whom  they  de- 
pend for  their  success  and  prosperity.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  to-day  the  Canadian  farmer  transports 
his  produce  600  miles  for  the  same  price  of  trans- 
portation charged  the  Minnesota  producer  and 
shipper  to  transport  his  wares  400  miles.  To  the 
south  of  us  a  great  empire  state  has  provided  by 
law  a  system  by  which  rates  of  transportation  are 
controlled.  Suffering  by  a  comparison  with  Can- 
ada, we  also  suffer  by  contrast  with  Iowa,  and  lying 
between  these  two,  it  seems  to  me  that  there  should 
be  no  discrimination  against  our  own  fair  state  and 
the  villages  and  cities  which  in  part  comprise  it. 

I  am  satisfied  that  this  view  of  the  situation  is  en- 
tertained by  at  least  some  of  the  railway  operators 
of  the  country.  A  year  ago  at  Chicago  I  addressed 
similar  views  to  those  presented  here  to  a  body  of 
men  in  which  there  were  not  less  than  a  score  of 
railway  magnates.  At  the  close  of  the  address  one 
railway  president  informed  me  that  he  concurred 
in  the  general  proposition  of  governmental  regula- 
tion; that  the  rebate  and  other  evils  worked  a 
decided  hardship  to  the  railways  themselves,  these 
hardships  growing  out  of  the  severe  demands  made 
by  large  shippers  who  backed  their  demands  by 
threats  of  a  discontinuance  of  business  unless  they 
were  met. 

317 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

If  there  be  abuses  of  the  laws  of  transportation, 
if  there  be  discrimination  against  some  localities  in 
favor  of  others,  if  individuals  suffer  that  others 
may  be  favored,  wherein  lies  the  remedy?  Cer- 
tainly proper  and  complete  regulation  will  afford  re- 
lief. This  can  be  secured  over  two  routes,  viz. : 
Proper  legislation,  conferring  the  right  of  regula- 
tion, and  then  proper  administration  of  the  law. 
In  a  village  in  southern  Minnesota  last  autumn,  a 
great  railway  genius  advised  the  farmer  to  elect 
men  to  legislative  positions  who  would  be  true  to 
the  agricultural  interests.  Is  not  the  advice  given 
on  that  occasion  pertinent  to  this?  The  remedy 
for  many  evils  is  the  ballot,  properly  and  effectively 
used  —  not  with  blindness  of  party  spirit  or  to  pro- 
mote the  interests  of  individuals,  but  used  with  the 
broader  idea  of  promoting  the  general  welfare  and 
securing  a  more  perfect  civilization,  based,  as  it 
must  be,  on  the  principles  of  justice,  equality  and 
fairness. 


3i8 


AT   VICKSBURG   BATTLEFIELD 

ADDRESS  DEDICATING  THE  MONUMENT  TO  THE  MEM- 
ORY OF  MINNESOTA  SOLDIERS,  MAY  25,   I907 

WE  are  gathered  here  to-day  to  dedicate  this 
memorial  to  the  memory  of  the  sons  of 
Minnesota  who  participated  in  the  siege  of  Vicks- 
burg,  and  who  were  preferred  from  among  their 
comrades  to  offer  up  their  lives  as  a  sacrifice  upon 
the  altar  of  our  country.  I  appreciate  that  nothing 
we  can  say  or  do  will  add  to  the  luster  of  their 
achievements ;  that  which  transpires  on  this  occasion 
will  go  unnoticed  by  them,  and  yet,  little  as  it  is, 
the  state  we  represent  could  do  no  less  than  to  erect 
a  shaft  to  the  memory  of  our  heroic  dead. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  review  and  revive  the 
incidents  of  the  sanguinary  conflict  of  a  half  century 
ago;  it  is  not  my  intention  to  discuss  the  issues 
which  led  up  to  the  greatest  civil  war  which  the 
world  has  ever  seen;  it  is  not  my  desire  to  boast  of 
victory  which  may  have  come  to  one  side  or  to 
exult  in  defeat  which  fell  to  those  less  fortunate. 
We  come  as  American  citizens,  bringing  garlands 

319 
21 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

of  love  and  affection  to  the  departed  sons  of  our 
own  great  state. 

Here  they  sleep  with  those  against  whom  they 
contended.  They,  at  least,  are  in  perfect  peace. 
The  cause  over  which  they  struggled  is  at  an  end 
It  needs  no  champion,  it  needs  no  defense,  it  invites 
no  controversy ;  the  war  of  the  rebellion  is  long  since 
at  an  end.  All  who  participated  in  it  were  Ameri- 
cans. The  valor  of  the  one  was  equal  to  the  valor 
of  the  other.  The  conscience  of  the  one  was  as  the 
conscience  of  the  other.  Right  or  wrong,  the  strug- 
gle was  by  brave  men.  Out  of  it  came  the  pres- 
ent America,  the  greatest  country  which  the  world 
has  ever  known;  a  country  as  dear  to  one  as 
to  the  other.  Out  of  it  grew  great  responsibilities; 
responsibilities  which  rest  upon  those  who  enjoy 
its  blessings  and  its  privileges  to-day.  Mighty  and 
glorious,  America  sheds  its  ray  of  light  upon  mil- 
lions of  happy  freemen.  The  nation  offers  its  pro- 
tection and  its  opportunity  to  all  who  seek  to  enjoy 
its  institutions.  In  these  blessings  we  cannot  par- 
ticipate unless  we  are  willing  also  to  share  the  re- 
sponsibilities. Every  age  is  fraught  with  its  oppor- 
tunities and  with  its  grave  responsibilities.  Every 
age  has  its  problems,  which  must  be  solved.  Ours 
is  certainly  not  without  them. 

One   of   the   greatest   problems   confronting  the 

320 


AT  VICKSBURG  BATTLEFIELD 

American  people  is  kindred  to,  and  has  a  companion- 
ship with  the  great  problem  which  the  people  of 
America  endeavored  to  work  out  in  the  dark  days 
of  the  Civil  War.  Unsuccessful  efforts  were  made 
for  its  solution  at  the  close  of  the  struggle.  But 
then  the  wounds  were  still  bleeding;  the  public 
mind  was  in  chaos.  The  people  were  filled  with 
passion,  and  the  ultimate  conclusion  was  not  then 
reached,  has  not  been  reached  now,  and  doubtless 
will  confront  the  intelligence  of  the  people  for 
many  years  to  come.  I  have  no  doubt  of  the  ca- 
pacity of  the  American  people  to  solve  every  problem 
and  to  solve  it  correctly.  I  believe  that  when  this 
great  question  is  finally  settled  it  will  be  settled  by 
those  who  best  know  and  clearly  understand  it,  by 
those  with  whom  it  is  ever  present,  and  by  those 
who  have  it  in  the  greatest  personal  interest.  It 
can  never  be  settled  until  it  is  settled  right,  and 
until  it  is  settled  in  such  a  manner  as  will  give  to 
every  American  citizen  his  rights  under  the  con- 
stitution. It  will  not  be  settled  by  another  clash 
of  arms.  Its  solution  will  and  must  be  a  peaceful 
one,  and  that  will  come  through  a  better  knowledge 
of  all  the  questions  which  concern  the  American 
people.  A  knowledge  which  will  make  us  chari- 
table to  the  faults  of  those  with  whom  we  differ, 
and  which  will  make  us  appreciate  the  virtues  of 

321 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

mankind  generally;  which  will  teach  us  to  realize 
that  America  confers  no  special  privileges  upon 
any  class,  or  upon  any  condition,  but  which  guar- 
antees culture,  development  and  prosperity  to  all 
who  desire  a  realization  of  that  which  American 
citizenship  means  in  its  highest  and  best  form. 
Our  country,  east,  west,  north  and  south,  has  en- 
joyed a  development  during  the  past  half  century 
unparalleled  in  the  history  of  nations.  The  future 
growth  and  advancement  of  our  citizenship  and  of 
our  material  resources  rest  entirely  with  the  popu- 
lation itself.  As  Americans,  we  must  act  in  con- 
cert for  all  which  tends  to  promote  the  development 
of  our  institutions.  We  may  differ  as  to  theories 
and  methods,  but  we  must  be  agreed  in  the  one 
idea  that  America  must  reach  her  perfect  grandeur 
through  the  patriotism  of  her  people.  A  patriotism 
not  necessarily  the  result  of  conflict,  but  of  patience 
and  self-sacrifice,  of  earnest  endeavor;  of  consciem 
tious  effort;  of  honesty  of  purpose. 

America  has  had  its  first  and  last  great  civil  con- 
flict. The  monument  erected  here  on  this  field  is 
not  to  perpetuate  and  keep  alive  the  spirit  of  war, 
but  is  a  monument  to  the  peaceful  relation  which 
must  exist  in  the  future  between  all  our  people.  As 
the  tinted  rainbow  is  a  sign  that  the  floods  shall 
never  again  overcome  the  earth,  so  this  shaft  is  an 

322 


AT  VICKSBURG  BATTLEFIELD 

emblem  of  peace  and  a  declaration  that  henceforth 
and  for  evermore  Americans  shall  never  again  op- 
pose each  other  by  force  of  arms,  but  only  in  a  spirit 
of  rivalry  for  the  uplift  of  all  humanity.  It  will 
ever  stand  to  tell  the  passer-by  that  brave  men  did 
not  falter  in  their  duty  and  to  admonish  future 
generations  that  duty  well  and  bravely  done  becomes 
the  true  American  citizen.  It  will  also  tell  the  story 
of  our  gratitude  to  virtue  and  to  sacrifice  and  teach 
men  that  the  people  who  comprise  states  and  nations 
are  not  ungrateful;  that  heroes  are  thus  remembered 
for  their  contribution  to  the  wonderful  fabric  of 
that  independence  which  quickens  national  life. 


323 


UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  COM- 
MENCEMENT ADDRESS 

DELIVERED  AT    PHILADELPHIA,   JUNE    19,    I907 

FOR  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  this  great 
institution  of  learning,  a  history  which  runs 
back  to  colonial  days,  your  provost  has  elected  to 
go  into  the  far  Northwest  for  someone  to  deliver 
your  commencement  address.  Why  the  marked 
honor  thus  conferred  has  fallen  to  me,  and  to  the 
great  state  which  I  represent,  he  has  not  fully  ex- 
plained. 

Perhaps  he  thought,  and  rightly,  of  the  North- 
west, the  empire  which  extends  from  the  Great 
Lakes  to  the  Pacific,  as  the  gateway  of  opportunity, 
as  the  sunlit  door  to  the  world's  youth  and  educa- 
tion and  ambition,  as  the  promised  land  for  the 
trained  minds  and  progressive  ideals  of  the  children 
of  Israel  on  the  Atlantic  side  of  the  Alleghanies. 

He  may  have  thought,  too,  and  again  rightly, 
that  what  the  valley  of  the  Delaware  has  been  to 
the  American  continent  and  to  the  world  during 
three  hundred  years  of  our  country's  colonial  and 

324 


COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

constitutional  history,  that  the  valley  of  the  Miss- 
issippi is  destined  to  be,  yea,  in  part  has  already 
become,  as  a  factor  in  the  nation's  political  and 
industrial  development  and  as  a  Mecca  for  the  in- 
dustrious home  seekers  of  Europe,  in  the  noonday 
of  our  nation's  twentieth  century  expansion,  and 
on  during  the  generations  to  come;  and  with  fore- 
sight and  wise  beneficence  he  may  have  planned 
for  you  —  a  plan  which  has  my  cordial  endorsement 
and  most  heartfelt  support  —  a  part  and  a  place  in 
that  great  central  field  of  national  development  and 
wide  theater  of  national  activity. 

Again,  as  the  honored  head  of  the  great  educa- 
tional institution  of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  your 
provost  may  have  had  in  mind,  and  still  rightly, 
that  the  North  Star  State,  for  which  I  am  here  to 
speak,  may  have  a  message  of  fraternal  greeting 
and  friendship  to  the  great  Keystone  State  because 
of  the  ties  of  blood  and  kinship,  and  because  of  the 
industrial  relations  and  historic  traditions,  which 
forever  unite  the  two  commonwealths. 

You  may  remember  that  the  first  territorial  gov- 
ernor of  Minnesota  during  its  pioneer  formative 
period,  afterward  governor  of  the  state  during  the 
stirring  ordeals  of  the  Civil  War  and  United  States 
senator  during  the  clays  of  national  reconstruction, 
that  stalwart  and  veteran  statesman,  the  late  Alex- 

325 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

ander  Ramsey  —  was  a  son  of  Pennsylvania,  born  in 
your  capital  city  of  Harrisburg  of  that  splendid 
combination  of  sterling  Pennsylvania  stock,  Scotch- 
German,  twice  your  member  of  Congress  in  the 
national  capital;  and  that  his  queenly  wife,  a 
daughter  of  Pennsylvania,  spoke  with  the  tradi- 
tional "  thee  "  and  "  thou  "  of  her  Quaker  ancestry 
as  a  descendent  of  the  followers  of  Penn.  The  state 
of  Minnesota,  which  during  the  half  century  of  its 
prosperous  development  as  a  member  of  the  union 
has  been  so  deeply  indebted  to  the  labor,  foresight 
and  wisdom  of  Alexander  Ramsey  and  his  Quaker 
wife,  to-day  welcomes  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
Pennsylvania  to  a  home  where  Pennsylvania  stock 
and  Pennsylvania  principles  have  so  long  been  es- 
tablished that  they  are  sinew  of  our  sinew  and  bone 
of  our  bone. 

There  is  another  ancestral  tie  of  kinship  between 
the  two  states,  which  almost  antedates  recorded  his- 
tory. You  know  of  the  upper  Mississippi  Valley 
to-day  as  the  principal  seat  of  the  Scandinavian 
race  in  America.  Two-and-a-half  centuries  ago  the 
home  of  the  Scandinavian  in  America  was  the  Dela- 
ware Valley.  The  Swedes  were  the  earliest  per- 
manent settlers  not  only  of  Pennsylvania,  but  of 
Delaware  and  western  New  Jersey.  Before  he  fell 
on  the   battlefield   of   Lutzen,   Gustavus   Adolphus 

326 


COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

had  outlined  to  the  Swedish  government  a  plan  for 
a  New  Sweden  in  America,  which  should  be  the 
asylum  of  all  who  sought  religious  and  political 
freedom,  and  the  charter  of  1634  for  the  colony 
of  New  Sweden  on  the  Delaware  was  in  pursuance 
of  his  dying  wish.  From  Delaware  Bay  up  the 
river  beyond  this  city  as  far  as  Trenton,  the  Swed- 
ish pioneers  bought  from  the  Indians  the  land  on 
both  banks  of  the  Delaware,  nearly  a  half -century 
before  the  grant  to  Penn.  They  built  numerous 
forts  and  villages,  establishing  the  city  of  Wilming- 
ton in  1638,  over  sixty  years  before  Penn  gave  a 
charter  to  Philadelphia;  and  on  an  island  just  be- 
low this  city  they  erected  the  capital  of  their  colony. 
In  1655  the  colony  of  New  Sweden  was  absorbed  by 
force  of  conquest  by  New  Amsterdam,  which  in 
turn  by  force  of  English  conquest  became  New 
York ;  but  the  Swedish  settlements  continued  to 
flourish  until  the  grant  to  Penn  made  them  the 
nucleus  of  the  Quaker  and  German  immigrations 
which  founded  Pennsylvania. 

It  was  to  these  Swedish  pioneer  settlers  and  the 
Quaker  and  German  neighbors  who  soon  joined 
them,  that  Penn  issued  that  epoch-making  procla- 
mation of  1681,  with  its  famous  guaranty — "you 
shall  be  governed  by  laws  of  your  own  making." 
William   Penn's  proclamation  was  the  democratic 

3^7 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

forerunner,  if  not  the  historic  parent,  of  the  great 
historic  documents  of  1776,  of  1787  and  1789, 
which  were  the  foundations  of  this  republic  at  its 
creation,  are  its  living  spirit  to-day,  and  I  believe 
will  stand  as  the  beacon  light  of  freedom  in  every 
clime  and  on  every  shore  from  this  day  forever- 
more. 

Were  I  to-day,  as  a  humble  descendant  of  the 
followers  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  to  issue  to  you, 
the  descendants  of  the  followers  of  Penn,  a  procla- 
mation of  greeting  and  good  will,  welcoming  you 
to  the  good  soil  and  inviting  opportunities  of  the 
commonwealth  of  Minnesota,  as  indeed  I  am  prone 
to  do,  I  could  not  write  a  greeting  more  appropriate 
to  the  occasion  and  more  fitting  to  the  subject, 
than  that  which  Penn  wrote  to  the  pioneer  fol- 
lowers of  Adolphus  on  this  spot,  and  site  of  your 
alma  mater,  226  years  ago,  in  the  following  lan- 
guage : 

"  My  friends,  I  wish  you  all  happiness  here  and 
hereafter.  These  are  to  let  you  know  that  it  hath 
pleased  God  and  His  Providence  to  cast  you  in  my 
Lot  and  Care.  It  is  a  business,  that,  though  I  never 
undertook  before,  yet  God  hath  give  me  an  under- 
standing of  my  duty  and  an  honest  heart  to  do  it 
uprightly. 

328 


COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

"  I  hope  you  will  not  be  troubled  at  your  change 
of  the  King's  choice ;  for  you  are  now  fixt  at  the 
mercy  of  no  governor  that  comes  to  make  his  for- 
tune great.  You  shall  be  governed  by  laws  of  your 
own  making,  and  live  a  free,  and,  if  you  will,  a 
sober  and  industrious  people.  I  shall  not  usurp  the 
right  to  any,  nor  oppress  his  person.  God  hath 
furnished  me  with  a  better  resolution,  and  hath 
given  me  his  grace  to  keep  it.  In  short,  whatever 
sober  and  free  men  can  reasonably  desire  for  the 
security  and  improvement  of  their  own  happiness, 
I  shall  heartily  comply  with 

"  I  beseech  God  to  direct  you  in  the  way  of  Right- 
eousness, and  therein  prosper  you  and  your  chil- 
dren after  you.     I  am  your  true  friend. 

"Wm.  Penn." 
"April,  1 68 1. 

The  only  time  Penn  ever  interposed  to  object  to 
the  kind  of  government  his  colonists  framed  in  this 
"  Holy  Experiment,"  as  he  termed  it,  was  when  he 
wrote  them  from  London  three  years  later :  "  For 
the  love  of  God,  me,  and  the  poor  country,  be  not 
so  governmentish ;  "  which  proves  that  Penn  was 
one  of  the  original  democrats  of  America. 

But  the  great  civil  conflict  of  1861  cemented  the 
bonds  of   Minnesota   and   Pennsylvania  by   a   still 

329 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

closer  tie,  the  flag  of  the  Union  and  the  blood  of 
sacrifice.  When  the  shot  was  fired  on  Sumter, 
Minnesota  was  an  undeveloped  pioneer  state,  not 
yet  three  years  old,  with  Oregon  and  Kansas,  that 
were  just  admitted,  one  of  the  infant  members  of 
the  Union.  Yet  the  first  regiment  tendered  to 
Abraham  Lincoln  to  aid  the  cause  of  the  Union  was 
the  First  Minnesota;  and  of  a  total  census  popula- 
tion of  172,000  souls,  24,000,  or  14  per  cent,  of  all, 
enlisted  in  the  cause  of  their  country. 

This  week,  forty-six  years  ago,  was  the  great 
commencement  week  of  the  boys  of  the  First  Min- 
nesota. It  was  the  class  of  '61,  Minnesota  boys 
in  blue,  eager  to  enter  upon  their  soldier  career. 
Most  of  them  were  about  the  age  of  this  class  of 
'07,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  plain  young  men, 
sons  of  the  frontier,  that  was  yet  a  class  with  no- 
ble lineage  —  descendants,  on  the  one  hand,  of  Miles 
Standish  and  the  Pilgrims,  and  on  the  other,  of  the 
Southern  cavaliers,  the  Carrolls  and  the  Harrisons, 
of  Maryland  and  Virginia;  sons  of  old  Erin  and 
Scotia,  and  descendants  of  Pennsylvania  Quakers 
and  New  Amsterdam  Dutch;  descendants  of  sol- 
diers who  had  bivouacked  on  the  Rhine,  and  of  the 
followers  of  Adolphus,  who  had  marched  to  the 
sacred  battle-hymn,  "  A  Strong  Fortress  is  our 
God,"  at  Lutzen. 

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COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

It  may  interest  you  to  know  that  the  money  in 
the  first  instance  to  equip  the  First  Minnesota  Reg- 
iment was  raised  by  Governor  Ramsey  among  his 
Philadelphia  friends. 

Forty-six  years  ago  last  Thursday  that  class  of 
'6 1  received  their  sheepskins  in  the  shape  of  orders 
from  Simon  Cameron,  again  a  son  of  Pennsylvania, 
Lincoln's  first  secretary  of  war,  to  proceed  to  Har- 
risburg,  your  capital,  subject  to  further  orders. 
Forty-six  years  ago  to-day  they  were  passing 
through  your  state,  and  enlisting  Pennsylvania  boys 
in  blue  shouted  to  them  along  the  route  — "  Go  for 
them,  boys  of  Minnesota,  go  for  them;  we'll  be 
with  you  in  a  few  days." 

The  brave  aspirations  of  the  Minnesota  men  were 
soon  put  to  the  test.  Scarcely  two  years  later,  July 
2,  1863  —  you  know  the  story.  It  was  the  second 
day  at  Gettysburg.  Sickles'  forces,  defeated  in  the 
peach  orchard,  were  fugitives  before  the  superior 
forces  of  Longstreet  and  Hill.  Eight  companies  of 
the  First  Minnesota,  262  men  in  all,  stood  guard 
over  a  battery  on  the  hill  at  the  Union  center.  Gen- 
eral Hancock  rode  up  at  full  speed,  and  after  vainly 
trying  to  stop  the  fugitives,  spurred  up  to  the  spot 
where  the  First  Minnesota  stood  firm. 

"What  regiment  is  this?"  asked  Hancock. 

"  First  Minnesota,"  answered  Colonel  Colvill. 

33i 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

"  Charge  those  lines,"  shouted  Hancock. 

With  fixed  bayonets,  first  at  double  quick,  and 
then  at  full  speed,  in  the  face  of  the  concentrated 
Confederate  fire,  the  brave  262  charged  down  the 
hill,  broke  through  the  first  Confederate  line,  driv- 
ing it  back  upon  the  second,  thereby  stopping  the 
whole  Confederate  advance;  then  under  cover  of 
rocks  and  stumps  held  their  ground  in  the  dry 
creek  below,  until  the  Union  reserve  gained  the 
position  above  and  turned  Gettysburg  unto  Union 
victory. 

Their  duty  done,  the  First  Minnesota  marched 
back  victors  to  their  position.  But  not  the  262. 
There  were  47  survivors  —  215  dead  or  wounded  on 
the  field  —  not  a  man  missing. 

In  the  charge  of  the  Light  Brigade  at  Balaklava, 
there  was  a  loss  of  247  out  of  a  total  of  673,  or  37 
per  cent.  At  the  charge  of  the  First  Minnesota  at 
Gettysburg,  not  on  horse  at  a  blind  gallop,  but  on 
foot,  into  flame  and  death,  the  loss  was  83  per  cent. 

Colonel  Fox,  in  his  work  on  "  Regimental  Losses 
in  the  American  Civil  War,"  speaks  of  the  sacrifice 
of  the  First  Minnesota  as  "  without  equal  in  the 
records  of  modern  warfare."  General  Hancock, 
who  issued  the  command  to  save  the  day,  has  de- 
clared of  the  achievement  of  those  young  men: 
"  There  is  no  more  gallant  deed  recorded  in  history." 

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COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

If  the  young  men  and  women  of  this  class  of 
1907,  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  desire 
from  Minnesota  a  sign,  a  spirit  of  inspiration,  a 
token  of  the  qualities  that  command  victory  and 
success  on  earth,  or  an  example  of  the  achievements 
of  fame  and  glory  that  may  be  won  by  high  purpose 
and  great  resolve,  I  point  you  to  the  Minnesota 
class  of  '6 1,  whose  blood,  shed  for  you  and  for 
all,  has  been  a  part  of  the  soil  of  Pennsylvania  now 
for  over  forty  years. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  or  hope  to  instruct  you ;  but 
anticipating  the  wish  of  your  respected  leader  I  do 
bring  to  you  the  message  of  encouragement  and  op- 
portunity. I  would  not  dwell  upon  the  past,  your 
courses  of  study,  or  your  associations.  These,  in  a 
sense  are  at  an  end.  Your  college  life  has  closed, 
and  whatever  the  successes  or  failures,  they  are 
over.  That  the  years  just  past  have  been  of  bene- 
fit there  can  be  no  dispute,  for  every  man  and  wo- 
man is  to  be  sincerely  congratulated  who  has  been 
given  a  college  or  university  education.  Some 
there  are  who  argue  that  it  is  of  little  or  no  value; 
that  Lincoln  was  not  a  college  man;  that  Dart- 
mouth did  little  for  Webster,  and  that  the  latter 
would  have  been  great  had  none  of  his  life  been 
passed  under  the  shadow  of  a  college  wall.  Pos- 
sibly, and  still  Webster  was  a  college  man.     What 

333 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

he  might  have  been  under  other  conditions,  who 
can  say?  Lincoln,  it  is  true,  gained  what  knowl- 
edge he  had  in  the  university  of  all  men,  but  who 
knows  at  what  a  sacrifice  to  himself,  and  who  will 
say  that  he  might  not  have  been  greater  with  the 
added  advantage  of  college  training?  It  is  a  great 
thing  for  a  country  to  have  assembled  in  many 
centers,  many  men  of  great  learning  who  can  and 
do  disseminate  the  wisdom  of  the  ages.  It  is  a 
great  thing  in  any  age  to  have  men  who  are  will- 
ing to  sacrifice  themselves  that  they  may  become 
the  torch-bearers  of  progress  and  keep  aflame  the 
lamp  that  radiates  the  light  of  the  best  thought 
and  the  highest  ideals  of  the  race.  Lincoln,  and 
any  other  man  who  has  burned  the  midnight  oil, 
simply  gleaned  from  meager  sources  through  his 
own  unaided  efforts  that  which  comes  to  you  in 
far  more  complete  and  available  form  through  the 
aid  of  teachers,  laboratories,  and  all  modern  aids 
to  intellectual  research.  Education,  it  is  true,  is 
in  the  main  simply  the  cultivation  of  the  talents 
with  which  you  have  been  naturally  endowed,  and 
the  acquirement  of  the  methods  and  principles 
which  will  enable  you  to  unlock  the  doors  of  science 
and  the  chambers  of  wisdom. 

The  dean  of  one  of  our  university  departments 
said  that  boys  did  not  learn  anything  at  college; 

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COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

that  they  were  simply  taught  how  to  learn.  This 
is  to  some  extent  true;  but  the  secret  of  the  how, 
what,  and  where  of  knowledge,  and  the  discipline 
which  gives  the  power  of  concentration,  and  a 
broad,  true  and  logical  grasp  of  the  world's  prob- 
lems as  they  arise  in  life,  are  the  most  valuable 
assets  in  a  world  where  brains  hold  scepter.  The 
non-college  man  who  seeks  a  parity  with  college 
men  in  any  avenue  realizes  the  absence  of  college 
training  in  himself,  and  even  though  not  willing 
to  admit  it,  he  will  acknowledge  to  himself  that 
there  are  few  things  material  or  otherwise  which  he 
so  greatly  envies. 

In  college  life,  I  imagine,  wealth,  or  rather  the 
absence  of  it,  causes  its  usual  share  of  grief.  The 
poor  boy  on  his  tedious  way  through  school  has 
felt  the  handicap  in  favor  of  his  more  favored  rival. 
But  from  commencement  day  on  the  handicap  will 
change,  and  the  boy  who  may  have  had  to  work  his 
way  through  school  will  find  it  no  new  thing  to 
work  his  way  through  life,  while  he  to  whom  hard- 
ship was  a  stranger  may  find  the  world  a  galley 
which  will  wear  the  body  and  torture  the  mind. 
The  great  law  of  compensation  thus  rules  even 
student  life.  To  recall  the  wasted  opportunities  of 
the  past  with  ceaseless  regret  serves  no  purpose. 
Conscience  carefully  attends  to  this,  and  to  those 

335 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

of  you  who  have  been  unfaithful  to  yourselves,  the 
penalty  will  be  duly  inflicted.  If,  in  the  retrospect, 
you  find  much  left  undone,  and  some  things  bet- 
ter were  they  left  undone,  there  is  the  remedy  of 
future  correction.  What  I  would  most  desire  in 
this  personal  message  which  I  address  to  each  of 
you  on  this  commencement  day  of  your  career  in 
the  world's  campaign  is  to  impress  the  responsibil- 
ity which  rests  upon  you  from  this  day  on  into  the 
future,  and  to  reveal  to  you  the  opportunities  which 
belong  to  every  man  and  woman  who  has  been  fa- 
vored with  academic  life. 

Opportunity  and  responsibility  in  life's  career  go 
together.  The  capital  equipment  and  the  opportu- 
nities measure  the  responsibilities ;  and  upon  the 
university  graduates  of  this  land  great  responsibil- 
ities rest,  as  great  opportunities  are  given.  Of  the 
eighty-five  million  people  of  this  nation,  one-fifth, 
or  seventeen  million  are  enrolled  in  school  work. 
Of  the  seventeen  million  who  attend  schools,  less 
than  one  million  receive  the  secondary  education 
of  high  school  and  academy  training;  and  of  the 
million  or  less  who  attend  high  schools  and  acad- 
emies, less  than  one-fifth  go  to  the  college  and 
university;  while  of  these  again  only  a  minor  frac- 
tion graduate  with  a  thorough  university  training. 
You,  therefore,  are  a  part  of  the  favored  and  select 

336 


COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

remnant  chosen  to  do  the  world's  most  exacting 
brain-work.  You  are  the  handful  selected  for  the 
nation's  most  trying  ordeals. 

And  do  you  realize  that  you  owe  to  the  people  of 
this  country  a  life-long  debt?  The  total  permanent 
trust  fund  of  the  nation  invested  in  its  educational 
plant  represents  billions  of  dollars  of  the  savings 
of  the  many,  the  vast  majority  of  whom  receive 
their  return  on  the  investment  only  through  the 
blessings  of  your  achievements  and  the  influence  of 
your  lives  upon  the  nation  and  the  human  race. 
The  national  government  alone  has  donated  to  edu- 
cation lands  valued  at  upwards  of  three  hundred 
millions  of  dollars.  National,  state  and  municipal 
support  to  American  colleges  and  universities  runs 
into  the  millions.  Your  own  institution  expends 
near  a  million  and  a  half  a  year  to  turn  out  its 
annual  product  at  commencement  day.  Your  debt 
to  the  state  and  its  taxpayers,  your  responsibility 
to  the  nation  and  the  world,  are  therefore  vast,  as 
your  equipment  is  thorough  and  your  opportuni- 
ties broad  and  inviting. 

To  the  equipment  of  training  and  learning  given 
you,  there  are  additional  qualities  which  you  only 
can  supply.  Manhood  and  womanhood,  honor  and 
character,  are  inborn.  Education  may  help  burnish 
them,  but  the  native  metal  must  be  in  the  person, 

337 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

or  not  at  all.  A  man  is  a  man  before  he  has  had 
training,  and  no  amount  of  schooling  can  inject 
honor  and  backbone  into  the  creature  that  is  born 
spineless.  Education  has  done  more  for  civiliza- 
tion than  perhaps  any  other  one  factor;  but  it  can- 
not produce  in  men  the  big  heart  and  the  high 
ideal  which  command  the  love,  respect,  and  con- 
fidence of  men,  without  which  true  and  great  suc- 
cess is  unattainable  and  no  success  is  worth  hav- 
ing. The  world  wants  educated  men,  but  first  of 
all  it  wants  men  —  men  of  honor,  men  of  character, 
men  who  are  not  prone  to  dethrone  their  own  rea- 
son by  excessive  indulgence  in  those  things  which 
tear  down  and  destroy,  rather  than  those  things 
which  build  up  and  create.  We  hear  much  in  these 
days  about  overproduction;  but  there  never  has 
been  and  never  will  be  such  a  thing  as  overproduc- 
tion of  good  men  and  they  will  always  command 
attention  and  find  their  places  awaiting  them.  The 
law  of  supply  and  demand  always  applies  here  as 
elsewhere.  In  this  as  in  all  other  fields  you  will 
find  an  eternal  law  which  is  as  inexorable  as  the 
law  of  gravitation;  and  it  is  a  moral  law  which  is 
primarily  a  necessity  to  success. 

He  who  has  measured  up  to  every  moral  require- 
ment will  find  a  wide  field  of  opportunity  in  every 
section  of  the  country.     The  West  is  the  Mecca  of 

338 


COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

mankind,  but  it  demands  honest,  pure,  vigorous 
and  courageous  men  as  much  as  any  other  section 
of  the  earth.  To  the  commonplace  man  it  offers 
commonplace  opportunities,  and  no  more.  It  win- 
nows the  grain  from  the  chaff,  and  its  rich  harvests 
go  to  the  former.  Opportunities  lie  open  to  all 
alike,  but  fortune  favors  that  man, 

"  Who,  if  he  rise  to  station  of  command, 
Rises  by  open  means;  but  there  will  stand 
On  honorable  terms,  or  else  retire 
And  in  himself  possesses  his  own   desire; 
Who  comprehends  his  trust ;  and  to  the  same 
Keeps  faithful  with  a  singleness  of  aim; 
And  therefore  does  not  stoop,  nor  lie  in  wait 
For  wealth,  or  honors,  or  worldly  state." 

The  boy  just  out  of  school  looks  first  for  a 
location  where  he  may  begin  the  career  which  is 
to  lead  him  to  success.  He  finds  all  the  good  posi- 
tions gone,  all  the  good  locations  filled.  They 
always  were.  The  places  which  are  purely  sine- 
cures never  existed,  or,  like  the  best  fishing  holes, 
are  just  a  little  farther  on,  and  when  you  go  farther 
on  they  are  still  farther  ahead.  And  yet  the  world 
never  presented  so  many  glowing  opportunities  as 
to-day.  The  great  West,  which  half  a  century  ago 
was  a  wilderness  governed  by  savages,  is  literally 
filled  with  golden  chances  for  anybody  with  brains, 
character  and  industry.     In  less  than  two  decades 

339 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

there  have  been  uncovered  in  Minnesota  the 
most  wonderful  iron  deposits  the  world  has  ever 
known,  to-day  producing  one-half  the  iron  ore  of 
America  and  one-fourth  the  annual  product  of  the 
world. 

From  Montana  south  to  the  Rio  Grande,  explo- 
ration of  the  hills  by  intelligent  men  has  converted 
a  desert  as  bleak  and  barren  as  Sahara,  and  brought 
forth  a  teeming  industry  which  adds  to  the  world's 
wealth,  besides  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  gold 
and  silver,  a  quarter  of  a  billion  dollars'  worth  of 
copper  annually.  Great  as  the  developments  have 
been,  the  work  has  just  begun,  and  still  treasure 
hidden  and  concealed  by  nature  in  the  most  mys- 
terious places  awaits  the  genius  of  the  young  man 
who  is  not  afraid  to  put  his  engineering  skill  against 
subtle  nature,  and  who  has  a  resolution  that  will 
not  be  denied.  Along  the  fertile  valleys  of  the 
Father  of  Waters  and  its  tributaries  lies  a  region 
unequalled  on  any  continent  either  in  agricultural 
results  achieved  or  in  undeveloped  agricultural  op- 
portunities. Agricultural  science,  engineering  sci- 
ence, a  proper  amalgam  of  industry  and  brains, 
here  find  their  exhaustless  opportunities.  Although 
the  harvest  fields  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  already 
contribute  to  the  nation  three-fourths  of  its  cereal 
wealth,  only  a  minor  portion  of  the  surface  is  yet 

340 


COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

tilled,  and  in  the  far  West  barely  a  fragment.  Mod- 
ern science  applied  to  farming  processes,  engineer- 
ing genius  applied  to  irrigation  and  drainage,  pro- 
gressive ideas  and  scientific  skill  devoted  to  good 
roads  and  forestry,  will  quadruple  the  agricultural 
wealth  of  our  great  western  empire  within  the  life- 
time of  those  I  now  address.  And  your  country 
turns  to  you,  Class  of  '07,  and  your  fellow  alumni 
in  the  other  great  university  laboratories  of  the 
land,  to  improve  your  opportunities  and  at  the 
same  time  advance  the  nation's  car  of  industrial 
progress  and  solve  the  world's  problem  of  sub- 
sistence. But,  rich  as  is  the  West,  even  in  oppor- 
tunity, it  has  no  place  for  the  sluggard  or  the  dis- 
sembler. The  best  positions,  there  as  elsewhere  on 
this  revolving  planet,  go  only  to  the  best  men,  to 
courage,  honor,  self-reliance,  and  the  genius  of  un- 
remitting toil. 

Foremost  among  your  opportunities,  as  well  as 
among  your  duties,  are  those  which  relate  to  the 
nation  —  the  good  of  all.  As  all  have  sacrificed  for 
you,  so  it  is  now  your  opportunity  and  privileged 
duty  and  destiny  to  achieve  for  all.  For  this 
career  there  is  no  training,  no  atmosphere,  no 
historic  ideal,  no  patriotic  inspiration,  like  that 
which  goes  with,  fills  and  pervades  the  American 
university ;  and  here  at  your  own  alma  mater,  grad- 

341 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

uates  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  in  this  cap- 
ital city  of  the  American  colonies  and  of  the  Repub- 
lic in  the  days  of  the  fathers,  you  have  the  four- 
fold inspiration  not  only  of  training  and  environ- 
ment, but  of  historic  precept  and  example.  Here 
was  the  homestead  of  William  Penn.  Here  were 
the  camps  of  Washington  and  his  yeomanry.  Here 
Adams  and  Jefferson,  Lee  and  Sherman,  Morris 
and  Franklin  spoke.  Here  was  assembled  Ameri- 
ca's colonial  congress,  and  here  was  located  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  first  presidents  of  the  Republic. 
Here  were  planned,  framed  and  established,  by  the 
most  glorious  galaxy  of  patriotism  in  history's  great 
political  drama,  those  pillars  of  our  national  faith 
and  corner  stones  of  our  national  existence  —  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  the  Ordinance  of 
1787,  and  the  Constitution.  Here  still  hangs  old 
Liberty  Bell,  and  here  the  pioneers  of  the  United 
States,  patriots  of  three  centuries,  look  down  upon 
you  as  you  take  up  the  cause  of  freedom  and  equal- 
ity which  to  you  they  blessed  and  bequeathed. 

Do  you  ask  if  the  field  is  ripe  for  great  civic 
achievement  ?  Do  not  think  for  a  moment  that  the 
nation's  political  problems  were  solved  in  the  days 
of  Washington,  or  Webster,  or  of  Lincoln!  The 
world's  civic  problems  are  never  solved,  and  never 
will  be  so  long  as  greed  and  selfish  power  can  find 

342 


COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

political  scepters  to  grasp,  and  so  long  as  servile 
placemen  can  find  special  interests  to  gratify.  Never 
was  the  battlefield  of  government  for  the  people 
more  deeply  in  need  of  loyal  soldiers  than  to-day, 
and  never  brighter  were  the  opportunities  for  glo- 
rious achievement.  Edward  Burke  declared  that  on 
questions  of  political  reforms  the  general  mass  of 
men  were  fifty  years  behindhand.  That  is  to  say, 
it  takes  the  good  part  of  two  generations  to  edu- 
cate men  out  of  their  political  ruts  of  self-interest 
and  prejudice.  It  is  your  opportunity  to  reduce 
that  fifty-year  period  to  twenty,  ten,  five,  and  per- 
chance one.  Do  not  think  this  achievement  easy. 
Remember  that  the  road  of  political  progress  from 
the  birth  of  the  early  Greek  and  Roman  republics 
down  to  these  days  of  spoils  machinery  and  pro- 
tected billion-dollar  trusts  is  paved  with  the  bones 
of  patriots  and  lined  with  the  wrecks  of  reform. 
Lowell  has  pointed  out  to  you  the  danger  and  the 
resource  of  political  reform  in  the  stanza : 

"  Right  forever  on  the  scaffold, 

Wrong  forever  on  the  throne ; 
Yet  that  scaffold  sways  the  future, 

And,  behind  the  dim  unknown, 
Standeth  God  within  the  shadow, 

Keeping  watch  above  his  own." 

Do  you  ask  for  a  catalogue  of  patriotic  oppor- 
tunities?    Do  you  ask  to  have  the  problems  of  the 

343 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

Republic,  the  enemies  of  the  people,  labeled  and 
marshaled  for  your  inspection?  You  will  find 
them  on  every  hand  among  the  hosts  of  special 
privilege,  wherever  a  public  law,  a  public  right,  a 
public  trust,  the  public  treasury,  the  public  prop- 
erty, powers  and  privileges  are  devoted  to  a  private 
end,  or  whenever  the  public  interest  is  subordinated 
to  that  of  a  class. 

You  will  find  them  in  the  great  question  of  trust 
domination,  giant-born  and  flourishing  under  a  con- 
flict of  law  which  at  one  and  the  same  time  pro- 
hibits its  existence  and  yet  protect  and  foster 
its  development.  Or  in  the  great  problem  of  trans- 
portation with  railroad  corporations  enthroned  upon 
eighteen  billion  dollars  of  capital  securities,  endowed 
by  the  government  with  the  sovereign  power  of  em- 
inent domain,  collecting  tolls  now  aggregating  two 
billions  of  dollars  per  annum,  or  over  three  times 
the  aggregate  revenues  of  the  national  government, 
and  the  nation  only  feebly  and  imperfectly  able  to 
control  its  means  of  transportation.  Or  again  in 
the  problem  of  the  status  and  condition  of  the  col- 
ored man,  still,  after  nearly  a  century  of  argument 
and  conflict,  one  of  the  most  profound  and  vexa- 
tious problems  since  the  days  when  the  children  of 
Israel  contended  with  Pharaoh.  It  took  Garrison, 
Phillips,  and  their  contemporaries  years  to  arouse 

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COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

America  to  a  realization  that  slavery  was  not  for 
America.  It  cost  the  country  a  war  lasting  five 
years  and  an  expenditure  of  lives  and  money  be- 
yond calculation.  The  problem  was  not  even  then 
worked  out  to  its  final  successful  conclusion,  for 
there  is  arising  upon  our  national  horizon  this  same 
question  of  the  races.  Its  solution  is  being  deferred 
because  the  master  mind  has  not  worked  out  the 
science  of  its  law  of  gravitation  and  America  still 
awaits  him.  There  are  those  who  say  that  the  solu- 
tion of  this  great  question  is  education;  if  so,  it  is 
one  with  which  men  of  education  are  required  to 
deal. 

Demanding  the  best  and  most  careful  national 
thought  is  the  question  of  our  colonial  possessions. 
This  nation  was  born  under  the  doctrine  of  the 
inalienable  right  of  self-government,  a  protest 
against  the  theory  of  foreign  possession  and  colo- 
nial rule;  while  to-day  we  are  a  mother  country, 
denying  to  our  colonial  subjects  even  the  rights  and 
privileges  guaranteed  in  our  Constitution,  from 
which  our  government  derives  its  powers,  and  deny- 
ing that  this  Constitution  controls  our  scepter  or 
follows  our  flag.  It  is  of  no  avail  now  to  discuss 
whether  the  war  of  the  Philippines  was  just  or  un- 
just ;  whether  the  acquisition  was  wise  or  unwise. 
The  condition  remains  that  the  Philippines  are  ours, 

345 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

both  by  right  of  conquest  and  purchase.  The  lands 
are  to-day  under  the  American  flag,  but  it  becomes 
America  to  deal  with  the  people  of  that  far-away 
country  with  the  same  fairness  with  which  we  treat 
each  other.  The  theory  of  our  government,  yea, 
our  own  Constitution,  guarantees  equality  to  all  who 
are  subject  to  national  control.  It  may  have  been 
an  error  to  have  taken  them,  an  error  to  have  kept 
them ;  but  whatever  the  mistakes  of  the  past,  that  the 
present  condition  cannot  continue  permanently  is 
self-evident.  It  is  our  duty  to  bend  every  energy 
to  bring  the  people  of  what  are  now  called  the 
American  dependencies  to  such  a  condition  that  the 
blessings  of  constitutional  government  shall  be  en- 
joyed by  them  as  fully  and  freely  as  by  ourselves, 
and  by  conferring  those  blessings  win  the  love  of 
the  people. 

America  can  less  afford  to  rule  by  despotism 
than  any  other  nation  on  the  earth.  It  must  rule 
by  love  and  affection  and  maintain  for  all  the 
people  strict  equality  before  the  law.  Who  knows 
but  from  these  assembled  here  shall  be  chosen  the 
man  or  set  of  men  who  are  to  work  out  a  solution 
of  this  great  national  or  international  problem?  — 
international  because  it  is  bound  in  the  years  to 
come  to  involve  the  great  question  of  the  supremacy 
of  the  Pacific.     In  the  Far  East  has  arisen  a  great 

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COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

world  power  whose  vision  is  broad  enough  to  look 
with  envious  eyes  upon  the  islands  scattered  in 
the  course  of  the  sun  in  its  daily  journey. 

Recently  there  has  been  promulgated  the  doc- 
trine of  greater  centralization  of  power  in  the 
federal  government  for  the  curbing  of  some  of  the 
evils  which  threaten  the  public  interest.  Under 
our  system  of  government  the  states  are  sovereign 
within  their  domains  in  regard  to  all  domestic  af- 
fairs of  the  commonwealth,  and  any  departure 
from  this  theory  would  be,  in  my  mind,  dangerous 
—  as  dangerous  as  though  one  arm  of  the  govern- 
ment were  to  assume  the  functions  of  another 
branch  of  the  civil  government,  or  as  if  the  states 
were  to  encroach  upon  the  constitutional  preroga- 
tives of  the  national  government.  It  occurs  to  me 
that  the  builders  of  our  national  structure  builded 
better  than  they  knew,  and  better  than  we  appre- 
ciate, and  that  our  national  safety  lies  in  strict 
adherence  to  the  organic  law  of  the  land.  To  so 
harmonize  national  legislation  and  state  legislation 
that  the  former  shall  include  everything  strictly 
national  and  interstate  and  the  latter  cover  all  con- 
ditions which  begin  and  end  within  the  state,  is  one 
of  the  nicest  problems  of  the  future  American  states- 
man, and  to  your  earnest  study  it  is  respectfully 
commended. 

347 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

It  is  your  lifelong  opportunity  and  duty  to  pro- 
test against  wrong  and  oppression  wherever  it  may 
be  found,  whether  it  be  in  the  fields  of  industry,  in 
public  affairs,  or  in  commercial  aggrandizement. 
The  Boston  Tea  Party  was  but  a  protest  against 
the  encroachment  of  avarice  and  greed  upon  the 
rights  of  a  people  who  felt  that  man  had  a  right  to 
be  free.  The  Declaration  of  Independence  was  a 
formal  declaration  of  the  facts  and  principles  upon 
which  the  protest  of  arms  was  based.  The  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation  was  the  fruit  of  a  protest 
against  wrong  and  against  the  worst  form  of 
human  oppression.  Most  of  us  are  apt  to  feel  that, 
had  we  lived  in  the  past,  we  would  have  figured  in 
the  great  movements  which  comprise  in  large  part 
the  world's  history;  that  had  we  lived  in  Athens, 
we  might  have  helped  to  shape  the  marbled  columns 
which  marked  the  civilization  of  two  thousand 
years  ago;  that  had  we  lived  in  Rome,  we  might 
have  been  of  the  Legions  which  triumphed  over 
savagery;  that  had  we  lived  in  the  days  of  the 
Romantic  legion  of  France,  we  might  have  mingled 
the  eagles  of  France  with  those  of  the  snow-capped 
Alps ;  had  we  lived  in  the  earlier  days  of  our  own 
country,  we  too  might  have  suffered  at  Valley 
Forge  or  have  cast  our  fortune  with  Marion  or 
Warren;  or,  had  we  been  in  the  theater  of  the  Civil 

348 


COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

War,  we  might  have  contributed  our  service  to  our 
country's  common  cause.  But  we  did  not  live  then. 
Our  faces  are  not  turned  to  the  past.  Our  country- 
calls  us  as  much  now  as  it  called  patriots  then. 
It  may  not  ask  us  to  shed  our  blood  or  lay  down 
our  lives,  but  it  asks  us  to  live  for  it,  to  love  it, 
and  it  demands,  as  it  has  a  right  to  demand,  that 
we  give  it  the  best  that  is  in  us  for  the  uplift  of 
humanity  and  for  the  progress  and  glory  of  Amer- 
ican institutions.  Patriots  died  to  preserve  it  for 
you  and  me.  Innumerable  headstones  on  northern 
and  southern  fields  tell  what  it  cost  to  preserve  it 
to  us;  monuments  stand  to  remind  us  that  Ameri- 
cans shall  never  again  oppose  each  other  by  force 
of  arms  and  that  the  future  holds  for  us  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  highest  and  best  form  of  citizenship; 
a  citizenship  which  believes  in  the  majesty  of  the 
law  of  the  land,  which  tells  us  that  no  one  is  greater 
than  the  law  or  has  the  right  to  violate  it. 

There  has  in  the  past  been  a  tendency  to  evade 
and  ignore  the  law,  and  this  tendency  to  outlawry 
has  been  promoted  by  public  officials  who  have  con- 
stituted themselves  the  discriminating  power  be- 
tween public  policy  and  the  law. 

When  one  man  is  privileged  to  set  aside  the  will 
of  the  people  expressed  in  law,  or  acting  in  a  public 
capacity  dares  to  usurp  a  function  of  government 

349 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

not  vested  in  him  legally,  and  this  comes  to  be 
generally  sanctioned,  there  is  danger  to  American 
institutions.  There  has  been  abuse  of  authority  in 
this  direction  in  the  past;  there  is,  I  hope,  a  grow- 
ing tendency  now  to  avoid  that  danger.  If  we 
are  to  go  forward  rather  than  deteriorate,  there 
must  be  a  common  effort  upon  the  part  of  the  in- 
telligent men  of  America  to  get  back  to  the  foun- 
dation principles  of  government  and  abide  with 
those  constitutional  fundamentals  which  are  sym- 
bols of  civil  and  religious  freedom,  and  no  set  of 
men  is  better  equipped  for  patriotic  service  in  this 
direction  than  the  intelligent  college  men  of  the 
country.  There  are  evils  in  our  body  politic;  evils 
which,  while  they  do  not  seriously  threaten  the  life 
of  the  nation,  are  doing  great  injury  to  the  many 
whose  toil  and  earnings  support  it.  The  inflation 
of  values,  the  creation  of  monopolies,  the  concen- 
tration of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  conferring 
upon  them  the  power  to  promote  or  destroy  any 
industrial,  transportation  or  commercial  enterprise 
are  evils  which  must  be  removed,  because  to  those 
who  have  been  given  this  power  has  come  the  in- 
toxication which  sudden  wealth  too  often  produces. 
Riotous  indulgence  in  these  excesses  must  bring,  if 
continued,  eventual  destruction. 

One  of  the  Greek  mythological  tales  relates  how 

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COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

Helios,  the  sun,  rises  in  the  morning  from  the  ocean 
to  guide  the  fire-breathing  steeds  of  the  shining 
sun  chariot  through  the  sphere  of  Heaven,  and  that 
at  night  he  again  sinks  into  the  ocean  in  the  west 
and  rides  in  a  golden  boat  around  the  north  to 
the  east,  where  his  gorgeous  palaces  lie.  One  day 
the  son,  Phsethon,  an  ambitious  youth,  prevailed 
upon  his  father  to  allow  him  to  drive  the  chariot, 
but  his  arms  were  not  strong  enough  to  bridle  the 
wild  steeds,  which  tore  along,  now  above  the  road, 
scorching  Heaven,  then  below  it,  endangering  the 
earth,  until  Jupiter,  in  order  to  save  the  universe 
from  destruction,  was  forced  to  kill  him  with  a 
thunderbolt,  which  descends  with  a  crash  and  hurls 
him  from  his  chariot  into  the  river  beneath. 

There  is  an  application  of  the  Greek  tale  to  the 
present  conditions.  If  intoxicated  money  power, 
usurping  the  chariot  reins  of  the  nation,  continues 
in  its  selfish  and  high-handed  course,  the  American 
conscience,  expressed  in  the  law  and  ballot  of  an 
outraged  people,  will  be  driven  to  heroic  means  to 
arrest  the  mad  flight  and  restore  the  country  to  its 
industrial  and  social  equilibrium.  What  this  coun- 
try needs  to-day  is  a  national  policy  free  from  the 
domination  of  class,  section,  and  special  interest  — 
a  fundamental  policy  which  stands  for  the  liberty, 
security,  growth  and  development  of  the  whole  coun- 

351 

•■■■■ 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

try,  by  affording  equal  opportunity  to  all  of  its  citi- 
zens to  share  in  the  country  which  nature  has  lav- 
ished upon  America. 

The  right  to  enjoy  property  is  guaranteed  under 
the  Constitution,  and  it  can  be  denied  to  no  citizen. 
Just  how  far  this  right  goes  is  open  to  dispute. 
Doubtless  great  achievements  are  rendered  more 
easily  possible  by  the  aggregation  of  the  wealth  of 
many  into  one  common  enterprise  or  corporation ; 
but,  this  done,  the  question  arises,  how  far  must 
the  right  of  individuals  be  subordinate  to  the  cor- 
porate power  thus  by  law  conferred?  In  the  in- 
dustrial and  transportation  realms  there  have  been 
certain  encroachments  upon  the  right  of  those  who 
labor,  as  well  as  the  interests  of  shippers  and  con- 
sumers, and  to  such  an  extent  as  to  excite  popular 
prejudice  against  capital  and  its  corporate  aggres- 
sions. 

There  must  naturally  be  a  happy  medium,  which 
will  enable  us  all  to  share  in  the  blessings  of  Ameri- 
can opportunity  and  American  institutions.  Capi- 
tal invested  into  enterprise  must  be  given  a 
fair  chance  to  earn  a  fair  return  upon  its  invest- 
ment. Men  who  have  legitimately  acquired  much 
property  must  be  made  to  feel  that  there  is  safety 
in  the  form  of  government  under  which  it  exists ;  but 
the  people   also  must  be   secured   in  their   rights, 

352 


COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

must  stand  exempt  from  monopolistic  exactions, 
and  enjoy  the  confidence  that  the  law  will  not  pro- 
tect a  man  just  because  he  is  rich.  Moreover, 
labor  must  be  sure  of  a  fair  and  humane  treatment 
and  of  a  just  and  liberal  reward.  The  sovereign 
power  which  permits  a  corporation  to  exist  must 
reserve  the  right  to  supervise  and  regulate  its  acts, 
so  that  there  will  be  honesty  and  justice,  modera- 
tion and  equality  in  the  discharge  of  the  corpo- 
ration's semi-public  functions.  Recent  maladminis- 
tration of  trust  funds  of  the  insured;  recent  ex- 
posures of  almost  insanely  dishonest  conduct  in 
transportation  and  finance;  the  refusal  of  corpo- 
rate power  to  abide  by  the  law  of  the  land  —  all 
tell  us  that  this  Republic  cannot  safely  neglect  to 
exercise  every  peaceful  and  constitutional  prerog- 
ative enjoyed  by  a  sovereign  people  in  controlling 
the  corporations  it  has  created,  in  requiring  observ- 
ance of  law  and  public  interest  from  the  money 
power  which  it  fosters  and  protects,  and  in  sub- 
ordinating every  special  interest  to  the  general  wel- 
fare and  constitutional  rights  of  the  people  and  all 
the  people. 

This  is  a  government  of  the  people  for  all  of  the 
people,  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  must  be 
supreme.  No  man,  no  interest,  no  class  is  greater 
than  the  law  of  the  land;  and  if  our  Republic  is  to 

353 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

endure  —  and  it  will  endure  —  the  power  must  re- 
side equally  in  the  sovereign  many,  in  accord  with 
the  fundamental  principles  of  1776  and  1789. 

Class  of  1907,  in  the  last  analysis  your  state,  your 
nation,  your  country  is  your  alma  mater,  and  the 
flag  of  the  Republic  is  your  class  emblem.  You  go 
forward  to  fill  a  high  position  in  the  world  —  to 
become  part  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  greatest 
world-power  among  the  nations.  In  no  land,  in  no 
age  are  greater  powers,  are  greater  liberties,  are 
greater  opportunities,  are  greater  duties  and  re- 
sponsibilities conferred  upon  the  intelligent  and 
morally  responsible  young  men  and  women  of  the 
race  than  this  country,  this  commonwealth,  this  uni- 
versity confers  upon  you  on  this  twentieth  century 
day  in  June. 

You  look  forward  to  success.  What  is  success? 
That  depends  upon  your  ideal  life,  upon  the  life- 
work  you  have  chosen,  upon  the  life  standards  you 
hold  before  you,  upon  the  heart,  character,  purpose 
and  inspiration  which  guide  your  career  and  govern 
your  destiny.  Some  of  you  go  forward  to  amass 
wealth;  others  to  achieve  political  fame  or  military 
renown ;  others  to  give  professional  or  industrial 
service  to  humanity;  others  to  add  to  the  world's 
wealth  of  literature,  science  and  arts;  others  to 
build  the  home  and  bless  its  childhood  and  mother- 

354 


COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

hood ;  and  others  simply  and  plainly  to  serve  wher- 
ever and  whenever  the  hour  of  duty  may  call. 
There  are  no  set  routes  and  no  chosen  goals,  no 
prescribed  place  or  time  or  condition.  Success 
dwells  alike  in  the  palace  and  the  hovel.  As  for 
the  golden  age,  St.  Simon  assures  you  it  lies  before 
you. 

Personally  I  would  rather  be  able  to  write  a  book 
that  would  live  one  hundred  years  than  be  able  to 
amass  wealth  that  would  enable  those  who  inherit 
it  to  live  for  generations  in  luxury;  and  yet  the 
amassing  of  wealth  may  be  of  vast  industrial  service 
to  the  country  and  to  those  who  seek  honest  work 
and  wages.  But  wealth-getting  becomes  a  crime 
when  the  man  obtains  it  by  the  sale  of  all  his  finer 
instincts,  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  character,  by  the 
violation  of  the  nation's  laws,  and  by  trespass  upon 
the  rights  of  others  to  the  pursuit  of  liberty  and 
happiness.  It  is  the  spirit,  and  not  the  thing,  which 
determines  the  nobility  of  a  career  and  the  degree 
of  success.  The  highest  victories  may  be  what  the 
world  calls  failures.  Remember  the  life  motto  of 
the  founder  of  your  commonwealth,  the  author  of 
"  No  Cross,  no  Crown."  Remember  that  time  and 
patient  toil  only  can  yield  any  great  victory.  Kep- 
ler did  not  learn  to  measure  the  stars  in  a  night, 
but  gained  a  knowledge  of  the  stellar  world  after  a 

355 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

lifetime  of  research.  The  great  soldier  who 
emerged  from  the  French  Revolution  had  the  nat- 
ural genius  of  selfish  ambition,  but  his  war  knowl- 
edge was  the  result  of  the  most  comprehensive  study 
of  war  conditions  from  childhood  to  Waterloo. 
The  Wizard  of  Menlo  Park  has  given  a  life  to  re- 
search that  the  world  may  be  enriched  by  a  knowl- 
edge of  that  subtle  fluid  which  seems  to  be  the  means 
of  revolutionizing  the  world.  In  a  small  country 
town  of  my  own  state  a  doctor  of  the  sick  has 
brought  physical  restoration  to  thousands  who  had 
abandoned  hope.  In  his  simple,  unostentatious  way 
he  has  gone  about  his  mission  with  a  singleness  of 
purpose  that  has  challenged  the  admiration  of  every 
surgeon  of  America.  He  did  not  need  the  added  ad- 
vantage of  those  things  which  are  always  in  the 
metropolis.  His  life  was  devoted  to  the  study  of 
science  and  the  mastery  of  his  profession.  He  had 
the  genius  of  application,  and  because  no  task  was 
too  severe,  the  name  of  Mayo  is  known  wherever 
there  are  those  who  practice  the  medical  profession. 
I  asked  the  great  railway  giant  of  our  western 
country  to  account  for  his  genius.  His  answer  was 
that  there  is  no  genius  except  the  genius  of  hard 
work  —  the  genius  which  does  not  overlook  the 
smallest  details.  This  man  controls  over  fifteen 
thousand  miles  of  railway,  and  knows  the  condition 

356 


COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

and  the  earning  capacity  of  every  main  line  and 
every  branch  line.  He  unlocked  the  door  of  oppor- 
tunity by  mastering  the  smallest  detail  of  his  busi- 
ness and  by  being  big  enough  to  group  all  of  the 
little  things  into  one  big  thing. 

Along  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Superior  are  im- 
bedded the  greatest  and  richest  iron  deposits  known 
to  the  world.  Uncovered  within  a  decade,  they 
have  enriched  the  wealth  of  the  world  to  the  extent 
of  one  hundred  million  dollars  a  year.  The  one 
man  who  personally  supervises  this  great  region 
was  a  railway  brakeman  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago, 
but  he  possessed  the  genius  of  hard  work  and  he 
possessed  the  instinct  of  wanting  to  know  more 
about  mining  than  any  other  man  in  America.  He 
battered  down  and  broke  in  the  door  of  opportunity 
and  made  an  example  for  the  young  men  of  his 
age. 

A  western  lawyer  was  recently  chosen  to  repre- 
sent his  country  in  some  of  the  most  important 
litigation  ever  undertaken  by  the  United  States. 
The  rule  of  his  professional  life  has  been  that  there 
were  no  big  things  in  the  law;  that  the  fabric  of 
jurisprudence  was  made  of  small  details,  in  the 
weaving  of  which  endless  toil  and  honest  effort 
were  essential. 

These  men  all  had  humble  beginnings  and  started 

357 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

in  the  world  gifted  with  far  less  promise  than  that 
which  the  world  holds  for  you.  It  shows  you  that 
success  does  not  come  in  a  day,  in  a  month,  in  a 
year.  It  comes  in  a  lifetime  —  a  lifetime  of  high 
resolve  and  sacrifice  of  nonessentials. 

May  that  success,  the  success  of  faithful  service 
and  earnest  purpose,  whether  in  walks  high  or  hum- 
ble, accompany  you.  Remember  that  in  your  sue- 
cess,  in  the  achievements  of  the  high-minded  youth 
of  to-day,  lies  the  destiny  of  your  country  to-mor- 
row. Upon  you,  your  manhood,  your  enthusiasm, 
your  fidelity  to  truth,  your  loyalty  to  country  and 
race,  rest  possibilities,  responsibilities,  opportunities 
and  destinies  of  which  neither  you  nor  I  to-day  may 
dream. 


358 


AT  SHILOH  BATTLEFIELD 

ADDRESS  DEDICATING  THE    MINNESOTA    MONUMENT, 

APRIL    IO,    I908 

REPRESENTING  the  people  of  the  common- 
wealth of  Minnesota,  we  are  assembled  on  one 
of  the  historic  battlefields  of  the  Civil  War  to  pay 
our  tribute  of  respect  and  affection  to  the  memory 
of  the  sons  of  Minnesota  who  here  yielded  up  their 
lives  that  this  might  continue  to  be  a  united  nation. 
Their  sacrifice  was  not  for  personal  gain,  but  was 
in  response  to  duty,  and  a  contribution  to  the  civil- 
ization of  the  age,  and  for  the  purpose  of  perpetuat- 
ing the  institution  of  human  liberty. 

I  appreciate  that  nothing  which  I  can  say  will  add 
to  or  detract  from  the  glory  of  their  achievement, 
which  in  itself  is  an  enduring  monument  to  the 
patriotism  and  the  heroism  of  the  American  soldier. 
Their  sacrifice,  however,  was  not  different  from  that 
which  has  been  made  throughout  all  of  the  ages  by 
those  lovers  of  liberty  who  believed  in  a  government 
which  might  give  to  all  the  people  the  right  to  life, 
liberty  and  property.     The  love  of  liberty  was  not 

359 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

born  in  this  country  of  ours;  it  was  cradled  along 
the  Danube  and  about  the  shores  of  the  Baltic,  even 
when  Rome  had  reached  the  limit  of  her  imperial 
grandeur.  Increasing  in  intensity  with  the  passing 
of  the  centuries,  it  found  its  highest  expression  in 
the  older  countries  in  the  great  English  charter  of 
civil  rights,  which  forever  guaranteed  to  the  people 
of  that  land  immunity  from  the  despotism  of  those 
who  claimed  to  rule  by  virtue  of  Divine  right.  From 
the  beginning  of  civilization,  man  has  ever  strug- 
gled against  the  despotic  power  of  the  strong,  and 
has  never  hesitated  to  mix  his  blood  with  the  soil 
of  his  land  when  by  this  offering  he  might  leave  to 
his  posterity  and  those  dear  to  him  a  legacy  of  free- 
dom ;  and  while  the  immediate  result  has  not  always 
been  the  triumph  of  the  right,  none  of  the  great  bat- 
tles of  history  could  have  been  fought  unless  there 
had  been  upon  one  side  or  the  other,  those  who  were 
willing  to  sacrifice  their  own  lives  for  the  common 
good  and  for  the  permanent  establishment  of  those 
principles  of  liberty  which  men  have  ever  cherished. 
One  hundred  and  thirty-two  years  ago  the  great 
contest  of  humanity  was  transferred  from  the  Old 
World  to  the  New,  and  here,  because  of  the  isola- 
tion of  this  country,  because  of  the  high  character 
of  the  men  who  espoused  the  cause  of  liberty,  and 
because  of  the  signal  victory  achieved  by  them  in 

360 


AT  SHILOH  BATTLEFIELD 

that  struggle,  an  opportunity  was  afforded  to  crys- 
tallize into  written  law  the  aspirations  of  the  patriots 
of  all  the  ages.  The  men  who  built  the  foundations 
of  this  government  were  those  who  had  submitted 
to  the  supreme  test  of  patriotism,  for  those  who  in- 
spired the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  were  the 
same  who  had  pledged  their  lives,  their  property  and 
their  sacred  honor  to  the  cause  of  independence. 

The  scheme  of  government  devised  by  our  fore- 
fathers was  adopted  after  most  mature  deliberation, 
and  after  the  fullest  investigation;  and  only  when 
they  were  satisfied  that  in  the  distribution  of  the 
powers  of  government,  the  rights  of  the  people 
would  be  respected.  It  was  founded  upon  the  the- 
ory that  the  right  exists  in  the  people  to  make,  alter 
and  modify  their  form  of  government,  and  to  this 
end  the  several  states  in  constitutional  convention 
agreed  upon  and  adopted  a  constitution  which  was 
the  foundation  upon  which  this  nation  rests.  But, 
as  Washington  said,  "  The  constitution  which  at  any 
time  exists,  till  changed  by  an  explicit  and  authentic 
act  of  the  whole  people,  is  sacredly  obligatory  upon 
all.  The  further  heritage  of  the  power  and  right 
of  a  people  to  establish  government,  presupposes  the 
duty  of  every  individual  to  obey  the  established  gov- 
ernment." 

The   original    Sovereign   States,   which,   through 

361 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

their  representatives  in  1787,  united  to  form  a  Fed- 
eral Government  for  certain  specified  purposes,  were 
careful  to  have  those  powers  which  were  delegated 
to  it  expressed  in  the  constitution  then  agreed  upon. 

While  the  primary  object  of  a  written  constitu- 
tion is  to  define  governmental  powers,  and  to  limit 
governmental  departments,  the  overwhelming  neces- 
sity for  such  an  instrument  is  to  prevent  insidious 
encroachments  upon  the  rights  of  the  individual  cit- 
izen, both  from  those  in  office  and  from  those  who 
by  reason  of  their  wealth  and  power  have  an  influ- 
ence far  greater  than  that  possessed  by  the  average 
citizen.  And  so  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  regarded  by  its  framers  as  an  instru- 
ment of  the  most  sacred  import,  an  alteration  of 
which  could  only  be  made  by  the  people  themselves 
in  whom  all  ultimate  power  is  vested,  and  then  only 
after  the  fullest  discussion  and  widest  publicity. 

Under  the  beneficent  government  so  established 
the  nation  has  prospered  and  the  people  are  happy. 
One  great  cloud  came  upon  the  nation  in  the  form 
of  an  awful  civil  war,  in  which  two  sections  of  the 
country  were  in  conflict  with  each  other.  The  he- 
roes who  rest  here  gave  their  lives  that  this  nation 
might  be  maintained  as  it  came  from  our  forefath- 
ers. On  another  battlefield  of  that  war,  Abraham 
Lincoln  said :     "  It  is  for  us,  the  living,  rather,  to  be 

362 


AT  SHILOH  BATTLEFIELD 

dedicated  to  the  unfinished  work  they  have  thus 
far  so  nobly  carried  on.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be 
here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining  before 
us ;  that  from  these  honored  dead  we  take  increased 
devotion  to  that  cause  for  which  they  gave 
the  last  full  measure  of  devotion;  that  we  highly 
resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain ; 
that  this  nation  shall,  under  God,  have  a  new  birth 
of  freedom,  and  that  the  government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish  from 
the  earth." 

Shall  we  not  to-day  consecrate  ourselves  for  the 
further  perpetuation  of  the  principles  of  American 
liberty,  and  a  constitutional  form  of  government, 
purchased  at  the  cost  of  the  blood  of  patriots?  In 
this  hour  when  there  seems  to  be  a  disposition  to 
depart  from  the  established  forms,  when  there  seems 
to  be  a  desire  upon  the  part  of  those  in  authority 
to  abide  in  a  central  bureaucracy,  rather  than  in  a 
representative  democracy, —  it  becomes  you  and  me 
to  protest  against  any  departure  whatsoever  from 
the  government  which  came  to  us  from  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  of  1787,  and  those  amendments 
which  have  been  made  to  it  by  the  specific  will  of  the 
people. 

Our  concern  is  not  of  the  past,  nor  wholly  with 
the  present,  but  much  with  the  future.     If  the  des- 

363 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

tiny  of  the  Republic  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Ameri- 
can of  to-day,  then  it  becomes  him  to  be  guided  and 
governed  only  by  patriotic  impulse  and  the  desire 
to  do  that  which  will  most  largely  contribute  to  the 
permanency  of  republican  institutions.  Advancing 
our  civilization  so  that  we  will  not,  by  recognizing 
the  false  claims  of  selfish  interests,  and  forgetting 
the  American  maxim  that  our  object  should  be  to 
attain  the  greatest  good  for  the  greatest  number, 
incur  the  penalty  which  other  peoples  have  paid, 
rather  let  us  hold  ever  in  mind  that  those  who 
framed  our  government  believed  in  the  equality  of 
the  people  and  that  the  chief  aim  of  government  is 
to  maintain  that  equality. 

Under  our  system  of  government  the  nation  has 
reached  a  material  development  hitherto  unknown. 
The  people  have  prospered  beyond  the  dreams  of 
those  who  lived  a  century  ago.  But  with  the  devel- 
opment of  the  country  and  changes  in  economic  con- 
ditions, and  particularly  with  the  growth  of  great 
private  corporations,  performing  many  of  the  func- 
tions of  government,  has  come  the  necessity  for  the 
exercise  of  strict  governmental  control,  and  a  rigid 
enforcement  of  all  the  laws  enacted  to  restrain  the 
rich  and  powerful  from  encroaching  upon  the  nat- 
ural and  legal  rights  of  the  poor  and  weak. 

The  marvelous  foresight  of  the  fathers  of  this 

364 


AT  SHILOH  BATTLEFIELD 

country  in  framing  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  spite  of  all  the 
changes  which  have  occurred  in  industrial  and  eco- 
nomic conditions,  in  spite  of  the  unexpected  expan- 
sion of  the  country,  the  Constitution  has  been  found 
sufficiently  flexible  to  meet  every  emergency  which 
has  arisen.  Let  us  remember  this,  for  the  danger 
of  to-day  is  that  the  American  people  may  be  lulled 
into  a  false  security,  and,  yielding  to  the  demands 
of  selfish  interests,  permit  the  breaking  down  of 
constitutional  provisions,  under  which  the  American 
people  have  attained  this  wonderful  degree  of  ma- 
terial prosperity  and  have  yet  maintained  the  indi- 
vidual liberty  of  the  citizen. 

The  constitution  of  the  ancient  Republic  of  Rome, 
which  for  five  hundred  years  had  recognized  the 
voice  of  the  people  as  supreme,  was  expanded  by  ex- 
ecutive interpretation  and  contracted  by  executive 
administration,  until  Rome  had  so  completely  out- 
grown its  democratic  conditions  as  to  become  only 
a  tragedy  and  a  tradition.  Let  us  implore  the  aid 
of  Him  on  high  to  preserve  us  from  the  errors 
which  ruined  Rome,  by  the  avoidance  of  which 
America  may  travel  on  to  that  destiny  and  realize 
that  fulfilment  which  will  be  the  inspiration  of  right 
thinking  men  of  all  the  ages  yet  to  come. 

Our  government  is  divided  into  three  separate  and 

36S 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

distinct  coordinate  branches :  The  legislative,  the 
executive  and  the  judicial.  Danger  will  surely 
come  to  this  Republic  when  any  of  these  departments 
of  government  attempt  in  the  slightest  degree  to 
usurp  the  functions  of  the  other.  And  while  now 
and  then  it  may  be  that  a  court  of  the  land,  in  con- 
struing the  Constitution,  may  nullify  a  section  of  it, 
I  have  the  faith  to  feel  that  the  people  of  the  coun- 
try will  rise  above  the  fallibility  of  judicial  tribunals 
and  assert  and  preserve  their  own  rights.  Our  duty 
is  not  unjustly  to  criticise  the  executive,  the  legisla- 
ture or  the  judiciary.  Our  duty  is  to  recognize  the 
majesty  of  the  law  when  enacted  by  the  legislature, 
to  abide  by  and  with  the  honest  executive  adminis- 
tration of  the  laws  when  so  enacted,  and  to  respect, 
even  though  wrong,  the  opinions  of  the  courts  of 
the  land,  because  when  respect  for  these  institutions 
is  gone,  then  the  very  framework  of  our  government 
is  bound  to  crumble  and  decay.  But  thus  having 
given  our  acquiescence  to  the  voice  of  authority,  if 
in  the  opinion  of  the  people  the  action  taken  is  one 
which  should  not  be  exercised  by  that  particular  de- 
partment, it  is  our  inalienable  right  to  so  further 
limit  its  powers  as  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  the 
error. 

Very  recently  there  has  come  from  the  highest 
judicial  tribunal  in  the  land  a  decision  of  vital  in- 

366 


AT  SHILOH  BATTLEFIELD 

terest  and  concern  to  the  American  people,  because 
it  has  established  a  principle,  as  stated  by  one  mem- 
ber of  the  court,  which  "  would  work  a  radical 
change  in  our  governmental  system  and  would  in- 
augurate a  new  era  in  the  American  judicial  sys- 
tem and  in  the  relations  of  the  national  and  state 
governments.  It  would  enable  the  subordinate  fed- 
eral courts  to  supervise  and  control  the  official  ac- 
tion of  the  states  as  though  they  were  dependencies 
or  provinces.  It  would  place  the  states  of  the 
Union  in  a  condition  of  inferiority  never  dreamed 
of  when  the  Constitution  was  adopted  or  when  the 
eleventh  amendment  was  made  a  part  of  the  su- 
preme law  of  the  land."  If  this  is  the  result  of  this 
decision,  it  is,  to  my  mind,  one  of  the  unhappy  inci- 
dents in  the  history  of  our  Republic,  because  the  very 
theory  of  our  government  is  based  upon  the  right 
of  the  states  to  control  absolutely  their  own  do- 
mestic affairs. 

If,  then,  our  whole  system  of  government  is 
changed,  have  we  not  only  retarded  the  progress  of 
the  Republic,  but  have  we  not  gone  back  a  century 
toward  a  centralized  form  of  government  which  is 
not  to  the  advantage  of  the  people?  What  this  gov- 
ernment needs  is  not  more  power.  What  it  needs 
to-day  is  to  so  distribute  the  privileges  under  the 
government  that  all  citizens  will  have  equal  oppor- 

367 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

tunity.  America  has  been  called  the  land  of  oppor- 
tunity. But  American  opportunity  should  not  mean 
a  granting  of  special  privileges  to  any  class,  but 
should  afford  all  alike  the  means  for  culture,  educa- 
tion, prosperity  and  contentment. 

For  nearly  a  century  and  a  half  America  has  pre- 
sented to  the  world  the  spectacle  of  a  happy,  pros- 
perous and  intelligent  people,  maintaining  a  pure 
democracy  founded  upon  their  supreme  will.  The 
hallmark  of  a  democracy  is  that  the  powers  of  gov- 
ernment are  close  to  the  people.  Throughout  the 
world,  wherever  democracy  is  advancing,  its 
progress  is  marked  by  a  greater  measure  of  self- 
government  to  each  community.  Will  the  Ameri- 
can people  turn  to  the  setting  rather  than  the  rising 
sun?  Shall  we  now,  because  some  laws  are  found 
irksome  by  a  class  and  interfere  with  their  selfish 
aims,  commence  to  deprive  our  sovereign  states  of 
that  measure  of  home  rule  which  until  now  they 
have  seen  fit  to  reserve  to  themselves?  I  cannot 
believe  it.  Upon  the  contrary  I  believe  that  the 
limitations  upon  state  and  federal  governments,  the 
nice  balancing  of  the  powers  of  each,  and  of  the  dif- 
ferent departments  in  each,  which  have  been  so  effi- 
cacious in  the  past,  will  be  maintained  in  their  full 
vigor  in  the  future. 

Therefore,  discharging  all  of  our  responsibilities 

368 


AT  SHILOH  BATTLEFIELD 

as  citizens  of  a  country,  refusing  to  surrender  our 
rights  of  citizenship  in  any  degree,  let  us  so  live 
that  the  heroism  exemplified  on  this  and  other  Amer- 
ican battlefields  may  not  be  simply  a  tradition,  and 
the  national  wisdom  of  our  forefathers  a  mere  leg- 
end, but  that  through  us  and  those  to  come  America 
will  reach  her  full  destiny  in  the  permanent  estab- 
lishment of  a  perfect  union,  which  shall  be  not  for 
to-day  nor  for  to-morrow,  but  forever,  and  be  so 
established  that  it  will  be  for  all  of  the  people,  and 
that  their  government  shall  not  perish. 


369 


PROCLAMATIONS  AND  WRITINGS 


A    LABOR    DAY    PROCLAMATION 

MONDAY,  September  2nd,  1907,  is  Labor 
Day,  one  of  the  holidays  set  apart  by  na- 
tional and  state  law  for  general  observance.  No 
holiday  is  more  typically  American,  and  none  is  more 
calculated  to  bring  our  people  to  a  serious  realiza- 
tion of  the  rights  and  duties  and  privileges  of  the 
American  citizen.  Upon  the  man  in  the  shop,  in 
the  factory  and  on  the  farm  depends  for  weal  or  for 
woe  the  entire  structure  of  our  civilization,  and  it 
is  in  the  degree  that  that  man  secures  his  rights  and 
as  he  performs  the  duties  which  fall  to  his  lot  that 
progress  is  made  along  the  lines  that  inure  to  our 
country's  greatness  and  its  material  and  moral  wel- 
fare. 

Realizing  that  the  nation  possesses  no  better  nor 
worthier  citizen  than  the  man  who  earns  his  daily 
bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  it  is  eminently  fit- 
ting that  on  this  occasion  we  should  lay  aside  our 
accustomed  employments  to  join  in  a  fitting  and 
proper  celebration. 

Now,  therefore,  I,  John  A.  Johnson,  governor 
of  Minnesota,   do  hereby  designate  and  set  apart 

373 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

Monday,  the  Second  Day  of  October,  as  Labor  Day. 
Let  there  be  a  proper  celebration  of  the  purpose  of 
the  day  and  may  social  meetings  of  friends  lend 
cheer  and  enjoyment. 


374 


AN  ARBOR  AND   BIRD  DAY  PROCLAMA- 
TION 

IN  thus  publicly  designating  Friday,  April 
Twenty-Fourth,  as  Arbor  and  Bird  Day,  for 
Nineteen  Hundred  and  Eight,  it  is  in  the  hope  not 
of  calling  up  a  mere  sentimental  enthusiasm  for  the 
day  but  of  arousing,  for  once  and  always,  the 
slumbering  tree  instinct  to  practical  activity,  and 
of  provoking  the  already  awakened  interest  to 
further  good  works. 

Arbor  Day  was  born  of  purpose,  not  of  fatigue, 
and  should  prove  worthy  of  its  parentage.  It  is 
not  in  the  strictly  modern  sense  of  the  word  a  holi- 
day, and,  with  no  wish  to  belittle  its  celebration  by 
exercise  and  song,  I  would  point  to  the  urgent  neces- 
sity for  more  telling  action  in  the  observance  of  it. 
It  has  been  the  fate  of  heroes  and  thinkers  to  be- 
come to  us  a  more  substantial,  vital  reality  when 
they  have  passed  out  from  among  us  than  we  re- 
garded them  while  they  performed  in  the  flesh  the 
mighty  deeds,  and  thought  the  mighty  thoughts, 
we  now  extol  in  song.  Let  not  this  be  the  portion 
the  man's  friend,  the  tree  —  to  be  neglected  or  laid 

375 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

low  in  our  service,  then  accorded  a  tardy  and  in- 
effectual worshio  when  it  has  surrendered  for  us 
its  all  and  lies  p/one  and  passive  beyond  our  voices. 
Now,  however  beautiful,  however  desirable,  how- 
ever necessary,  may  be  the  individual  tree,  it  is  not 
enough  that  we  plant,  as  a  school,  or  even  as  a  com- 
munity, one  tree  or  a  dozen  trees,  with  all  the  cere- 
monial attendant  upon  corner-stone  laying,  to  stand 
up  here  and  there,  sporadic  instances  of  well-in- 
tentioned but  futile  recognition  of  their  esthetic 
value.  If  we  are  to  atone  for  the  past,  to  make 
permanent  provision  for  the  future,  the  school  and 
the  community  must,  both  of  them,  separately  or 
together,  have  a  landscape  scheme  as  definite,  as 
complete,  and  as  clear  as  the  plans  and  specifications 
of  architecture.  As  no  rational  builder  would 
dream  of  permitting  that  one  man  design  the 
foundation,  another  the  superstructure,  neither 
should  one  individual  —  on  this  day  set  apart  for 
the  general  weal  —  make  his  solitary  contribution  to 
shade  the  beauty  by  planting  a  few  cedars  in  his 
particular  earth  plot,  at  the  same  time  that  his 
neighbor  sets  up  an  elm  to  guard  his  gate,  while  it 
may  be  that  the  real  need  of  the  town,  of  which 
both  men  are  a  part,  is  a  grove  of  maple  that  a  lit- 
tle   forethought,   a   community   conference,    and   a 

376 


ARBOR  AND  BIRD  DAY 

day's  well  directed  effort,  would  make  a  budding 
actuality  not  an  ideal  of  the  far-off  sometime. 

To  this  plea  for  a  larger  place  for  arboreal  life  in 
our  thoughts  and  in  the  objective  world  about  us, 
there  seems  little  call  to  add  a  plea  for  the  feathered 
folk  of  the  woods.  Take  care  of  the  trees,  and  the 
trees  will  take  care  of  the  birds,  whose  twitter- 
ing cheerfulness  and  irrepressible  outburst  hymn 
the  Eternal  Goodness  in  happier  voice  than  their 
own  "  pathetic  minor." 


377 


A  MEMORIAL  DAY  PROCLAMATION 

AGAIN  approaches  the  day  set  apart  by  the 
people  of  a  grateful  republic  to  honor  the 
memory  of  their  soldier  dead.  Gratitude  to  them 
who  bravely  and  nobly  made  the  nation's  cause  their 
cause,  inaugurated  the  custom,  and  succeeding  gen- 
erations of  patriotic,  loyal  and  liberty-loving  Amer- 
icans will  look  to  its  perpetuity.  The  approaching 
Thirtieth  of  May  will  give  our  people  another  op- 
portunity to  show  their  appreciation  of  the  serv- 
ices of  the  men  who,  on  land  and  on  sea,  upheld 
the  noblest  cause  for  which  freemen  ever  fought. 
Human  liberty  was  involved  in  that  great  struggle, 
and  in  its  righteous  cause  no  man  has  ever  died  in 
vain.  But  it  is  not  that  old  wounds  should  be 
opened,  or  that  sectionalism  should  again  become 
an  issue  before  the  American  people,  that  this  day 
is  dedicated  to  the  soldiers  of  the  Civil  War;  better 
that  the  dead  should  bury  their  dead  than  that  a 
reunited  country  be  torn  by  sectional  strife.  But 
of  this  there  can  be  no  fear.  Ties  of  loving  kin- 
dred reunite  the  North  and  South.  On  Southern 
battlefields  generous  hands  with  strict  impartiality 

378 


MEMORIAL  DAY 

decorate  the  graves  of  the  heroes  who  came  among 
them  as  foes  a  half  a  century  ago.  In  the  North 
there  is  left  no  bitterness  of  spirit  as  the  heritage 
of  the  struggle.  We  are  in  truth  and  in  spirit  one 
country  and  one  flag. 

In  conformity  to  the  Proclamation  of  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States,  and  the  custom  long 
since  established  among  us,  I,  John  A.  Johnson, 
governor  of  the  State  of  Minnesota,  do  recommend 
that  on  Memorial  Day,  Saturday,  May  30th,  1908, 
all  schools,  factories,  mills  and  other  places  of  busi- 
ness be  closed,  and  that  labor  of  all  kinds  be  sus- 
pended. Let  us  collectively  and  individually  make 
this  day  one  sacred  to  the  memory  of  those  who 
imperiled  their  lives  for  the  cause  of  their  country. 


379 


A  THANKSGIVING  PROCLAMATION 

WE  are  come  once  again  to  the  season  of  the 
year  when  Nature's  ever  recurrent  task  of 
creation,  growth  and  fruition  has  been  accom- 
plished. For  Nature  and  for  man,  in  so  far  as  his 
pursuits  are  closely  related  to  or  determined  by 
natural  processes,  the  year  is  done,  the  task  ac- 
complished, the  reward  won.  Now  is  at  hand 
Nature's  rest  time,  when  she  prepares  herself  for 
another  period  of  activity  and  fruitfulness.  And 
though  man  may  not  rest  in  the  shop  and  in  the 
office,  yet  the  tiller  of  the  soil  finds  the  winter  period 
one  of  comparative  quiet.  Ours  is  still  an  agricul- 
tural state,  great  as  are  its  manifold  manufacturing 
industries,  and  the  end  of  the  seasonal  year  is  the 
end  of  the  popular  year.  We  measure  our  pros- 
perity from  granary  filling  round  to  granary  filling. 
As  we  look  back  to  the  last  stopping  place  in  this 
endless  cycle  of  time,  the  people  of  Minnesota  see 
much  to  rejoice  them  and  little  to  discourage,  much 
to  be  thankful  for,  and  little  to  regret;  much  they 
find  in  solid  achievement,  much  they  see  of  promise 
for  the  future.  Our  farms  have  yielded  abundantly 
and  our  farmers  are  prosperous.  The  world 
eagerly  takes  from  them  at  generous  prices  all  of 

380 


THANKSGIVING  DAY 

cheir  surplus.  And  in  this  state  the  prosperity  of 
the  farmer  becomes  ultimately  the  prosperity  of  all. 
It  is  true  that  the  business  world  has  had  some 
experience  of  tight  purse  strings,  chafing  inactivity 
and  curbing  caution;  but  while  our  goodly  state  of 
Minnesota  has  shared  in  this  national  misfortune 
and  hard  experience,  it  has  not  suffered  keenly  but 
rather  less  than  most  of  its  sister  commonwealths. 
The  experience  has  been  salutary,  if  drastic,  and 
will  tend,  as  has  been  well  said,  to  make  us  prize 
comfort  more  and  luxury  less.  A  feeling  of  thank- 
fulness is  in  the  hearts  of  all  for  the  good  that  is 
ours,  and  we  feel  that  the  future  promises  much. 

It  is  meet  and  proper  therefore  that  as  a  people 
of  deep  religious  feeling  (for  all  our  absorption  in 
worldly  pursuits)  we  should  follow  the  good  cus- 
tom, now  long  established,  and  set  aside  a  day  for 
the  giving  of  thanks  to  the  Creator. 

As  an  evidence  of  gratitude  and  in  conformity 
to  usage,  I,  John  A.  Johnson,  governor  of  the  State 
of  Minnesota,  do  hereby  proclaim  Thursday,  No- 
vember 26,  1908,  as  a  general  Day  of  Thanks- 
giving. 

Upon  that  day  let  the  people  assemble  in  their 
customary  places  of  worship  and  join  in  services  in- 
dicative of  their  gratitude,  and  pray  for  a  con- 
tinuance of  divine  mercy  for  the  future. 

38i 


MESSAGE  VETOING  THE  TONNAGE  TAX 

Hon.  A.  J.  Rockne,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives: 

Sir — I  have  the  honor  to  return  herewith  with- 
out my  approval  — 

H.  F.  No.  227,  A  bill  for  an  act  defining  and 
classifying  mineral  lands  and  providing  for  the 
taxation  of  the  same. 

Objections  to  this  measure  may  be  summarized 
as  follows: 

First  —  Notwithstanding  the  able  and  sincere 
labor  bestowed  upon  it  by  its  author,  Mr.  Bjorge, 
the  bill  remains,  both  in  principle  and  administra- 
tive features,  a  more  or  less  uncertain  and  ill-di- 
gested experiment,  not  fully  understood  even  by  its 
friends,  and  intensely  feared  by  the  sections  of  the 
state  to  which  it  specially  applies,  while  in  appli- 
cation it  threatens  to  violate  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  taxation,  that  of  equality,  at  the  same  time 
it  fails  to  meet  the  constitutional  requirement  of 
uniformity  in  taxing  the  same  class  of  subjects. 

Second  —  It  is  certain  that  the  moral,  indus- 
trial and  practical  effect  of  the  bill,  if  made  a  law 

382 


THE  TONNAGE  TAX 

at  this  time,  will  be  to  strike  a  severe  blow  at  the 
development  and  prosperity  of  all  the  great  min- 
eral bearing  counties  of  northeastern  and  north 
central  Minnesota,  affecting  alike  the  agricultural, 
manufacturing,  commercial,  financial  and  educa- 
tional growth  and  success,  as  well  as  the  settle- 
ment of  all  our  northern  lands,  both  public  and 
private,  and  the  investment  of  both  home  and  for- 
eign capital  therein. 

Third  —  The  passage  of  the  proposed  tonnage 
tax  measure  at  this  time,  when  both  its  provisions 
and  the  principle  upon  which  it  is  based,  are  so 
little  understood  and  indeed  so  generally  misunder- 
stood, has  plunged  the  whole  subject  of  taxation 
under  the  new  state  constitutional  amendment  into 
a  sea  of  political  and  sectional  feeling  and  preju- 
dice, which  not  only  makes  a  just,  efficient  and 
scientific  measure  impossible  of  enactment  at  this 
time,  but  threatens  sectional  hatreds  which  may 
disrupt  and  endanger  the  future  best  development 
of  our  great  Commonwealth,  besides  making  the 
subject  of  just  state  taxation  the  mere  football  of 
partisan  and  sectional  politics. 

Fourth  —  Minnesota  is  achieving  marked  suc- 
cess in  the  assessment  and  taxation  of  iron  ore 
lands  under  the  present  ad  valorem  system ;  so  that 
there    is    no   urgent    and    vital   public    need    of    a 

383 

25 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

measure  of  this  kind  at  this  time,  and  nothing  to 
prevent  the  state  from  taking  ample  time  under 
the  provisions  of  the  new  constitutional  amend- 
ment, and  with  the  aid  of  the  state  tax  commission 
to  work  out  a  system  of  taxation  on  a  thoroughly 
scientific,  dispassionate  and  equitable  basis,  devoid 
of  political  and  sectional  feeling,  and  one  that  will 
commend  itself  to  the  people  of  Minnesota  at  large, 
regardless  of  section  or  party,  industry  or  class, 
for  its  justice  and  equality  of  principle,  as  well  as 
for  its  efficient,  carefully  wrought  and  thoroughly 
practical  administrative  features. 

As  regards  the  success  of  the  state  in  securing 
revenue  from  iron  ore  properties  under  the  present 
ad  valorem  system,  permit  me  to  cite  you  to  the 
statistical  exhibit  of  the  state  auditor  on  page 
XVIII,  of  his  last  biennial  report.  It  there  ap- 
pears that  the  taxable  value  of  iron  ore  properties 
in  Minnesota  has  been  raised  from  $6,000,000  in 
1898  to  $180,000,000  in  1908,  or  increased  thirty- 
fold  in  ten  years,  and  that  the  taxes  levied  to  be 
paid  into  the  state  treasury  from  this  source  in- 
creased from  $18,000  in  1898  to  $600,000  in  1908, 
increasing  thirty-three-fold  in  the  brief  period  of 
ten  years. 

If  the  revenue  now  derived  from  iron  mines  is 
not   sufficient   the   state  under  the  present   system 

384 


THE  TONNAGE  TAX 

has  the  full  power  and  machinery  to  increase  the 
assessment  to  a  proper  and  just  figure,  without 
plunging  any  section  of  the  state  into  panic  and 
arresting  its  development. 

The  State  Board  of  Equalization  and  the  State 
Tax  Commission,  under  the  present  tax  laws,  have 
raised  the  value  of  iron  ore  lands  from  $42,000,000 
in  1905  to  $180,000,000  last  year,  thereby  increas- 
ing the  state  tax  levy  for  state  purposes  alone  from 
$114,000  four  years  ago  to  approximately  $600,000 
a  year  at  the  present  time,  or  adding  nearly  a  half 
million  dollars  of  revenue  annually  to  the  state 
treasury,  and  approximately  quadrupling  the  iron 
ore  valuation  and  taxes  in  the  brief  period  of  four 
years. 

The  present  scientific  and  thorough  manner  of 
reaching  iron  ore  valuations  by  the  Minnesota  Tax 
Commission  is  the  subject  of  the  admiration  and 
congratulation  of  the  leading  tax  authorities  of  the 
country.  Minnesota's  success  in  the  taxation  of 
mines  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  marked 
achievements  in  the  progress  of  state  taxation  in 
recent  years.  The  progress  we  have  made  we  have 
the  full  power  to  continue  to  make  under  present 
laws  and  administration.  Northern  Minnesota  is 
just  emerging  from  the  prolonged  depression  inci- 
dent to   the  great   industrial  strike   at  the  mines, 

385 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

followed  by  the  presidential  election  and  general 
depression  of  the  iron  and  steel  industry.  To 
plunge  this  great  section  again  at  this  time  into 
the  uncertainty  and  depression  that  are  certain  to 
follow  the  enactment  of  this  bill  and  the  almost 
endless  litigation  to  which  it  will  give  rise,  not  only 
is  not  called  for  by  any  present  public  necessity, 
but  appears  suicidal  to  the  state's  progress  and  pros- 
perity in  this  critical  period  of  its  northern  develop- 
ment. 

Northern  Minnesota  claims,  with  some  show  of 
reason,  that  had  its  counties  a  legislative  representa- 
tion based  on  a  just  population  apportionment,  this 
bill  would  never  have  passed.  Fifty-five  counties 
of  this  state  receive  more  money  from  the  state 
treasury  than  they  pay  into  it,  and  it  scarcely  seems 
possible  that  these  districts  should  attempt  to  impose 
upon  another  section  of  the  state  a  system  of  taxa- 
tion based  upon  an  inequality.  Such  attitude 
obviously  threatens  the  state  with  a  condition  of 
sectional  hatred  and  prejudice  which  is  ominous  to 
the  state's  future  peace,  harmony  and  progress. 

However  patriotic  and  disinterested  in  purpose 
the  author  and  a  majority  of  the  friends  of  this 
measure  may  be,  the  fact  remains  that  the  people 
of  the  northern  counties  in  which  our  mineral  re- 

386 


THE  TONNAGE  TAX 

sources  are  located  believe  as  one  man  that  their 
section  and  industry  are  singled  out  for  tax  dis- 
crimination and  confiscation. 

Taxation  is  not  for  punishment.  The  sovereign 
power  of  taxation  is  not  conferred  by  the  people 
upon  their  representatives  for  the  purpose  of  pun- 
ishing any  industry,  class  or  section.  The  founda- 
tion theory  of  taxation  is  absolute  equality  and 
justice  to  the  humblest,  and  mightiest  alike. 

In  the  practical  operation,  this  bill,  as  it  would 
affect  the  great  mining  corporations,  would  not,  I 
believe,  work  out  the  results  designed  by  the  author. 
Based  upon  metallic  standards  entirely,  it  would  be 
of  advantage  to  the  mining  companies  now  oper- 
ating in  the  Vermilion  and  Mesaba  ranges,  and 
would  work  a  decided  disadvantage  to  the  people 
possessing  low-grade  ores  of  the  undeveloped 
properties  now  in  the  hands  of  thousands  of  settlers 
in  Aitkin,  Becker,  Beltrami,  Cass,  Hubbard,  Itasca, 
Morrison,  Crow  Wing,  Otter  Tail,  Todd  and  Wa- 
dena counties.  Not  only  would  there  be  a  discrimi- 
nation in  favor  of  the  older  and  richer  section  of 
our  mineral  area,  but  it  would  place  an  unfair  and 
unjust  burden  upon  their  smaller  and  independent 
competitors  in  the  newer  and  less  developed  section, 
and  in  many  instances  would  doubtless  result  in  the 

387 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

latter  being  compelled  to  surrender  their  properties 
at  a  sacrifice  to  that  corporation  which  dominates 
the  steel  industry  of  the  United  States. 

The  purpose  of  taxation  is  to  raise  revenue  for 
the  expenses  of  government,  and  on  this  theory 
taxes  should  be  levied  on  all  classes  and  on  all  sec- 
tions as  nearly  alike  as  may  be.  There  is  no  denial 
of  the  statement  that  this  section  now  pays  on  valua- 
tions greater  than  other  classes  of  real  estate  in 
other  sections  of  the  state,  and  while  it  may  be  pos- 
sible and  doubtless  is  true  that  modifications  may  be 
necessary,  this  can  be  accomplished,  as  I  have  al- 
ready stated,  full  as  well  under  the  present  ad  va- 
lorem system,  under  the  scientific  investigations  of 
the  Tax  Commission,  as  under  the  specific  plan  pro- 
posed in  this  bill.  And  the  present  plan  has  this 
very  decided  advantage  to  the  state,  that  the  reve- 
nues are  definitely  determined  and  expenditures  can 
be  made  accordingly,  while  under  the  proposed  plan 
there  would  obtain  a  flexibility  dangerous  in  its  un- 
certainty, as  the  revenues  would  be  more  or  less  as 
the  companies  mined,  much  or  little. 

I  believe  that  the  bill,  providing  as  it  does  a 
double  system  of  taxation  on  one  class  of  property, 
is  wrong  in  principle,  and  for  this  and  the  reasons 
above  recited  I  herewith  return  the  same. 

April  20,  1909. 

388 


THE  COUNTRY  EDITOR 

AN    ARTICLE    BY    GOVERNOR    JOHN    A.    JOHNSON    IN 
THE  YOUTH'S   COMPANION,   SEPT.   9,    IQOO, 

IF  I  were  asked  the  main  point  of  difference  be- 
tween the  rural  and  the  urban  editor,  I  should 
say  it  is  largely  a  matter  of  personality.  In  the 
one  case  the  personality  is  the  chief  asset;  in  the 
other  it  is  no  longer  appreciable. 

Few  of  the  great  city  newspapers  print  the  names 
of  their  editors,  and  often  no  one  knows  their 
guiding  spirits.  The  editorial  page  is  regarded  as 
the  expression  of  the  paper,  not  as  the  conviction 
of  a  person. 

Almost  unconsciously  the  great  newspapers  have 
undergone  a  process  of  elimination  of  the  individual. 
As  a  whole  they  have  not  deteriorated  in  literary 
quality ;  on  the  contrary,  we  have  better  news- 
papers. The  editorials  are  just  as  sound  and  the 
news  features  just  as  interesting  —  but  the  man  be- 
hind is  no  longer  visible. 

In  the  country  the  editor  lives  "  near  to  nature's 
heart."     He  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  community 

389 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

life.  Everybody  knows  him.  When  he  chronicles 
the  arrival  of  the  "  bouncing  boy,"  or  when  he  ex- 
tends condolences  to  "  the  bereaved  family,"  those 
interested  feel  the  gentle  touch  of  a  friendly  hand. 
He  records  triumphs  and  successes  in  the  spirit  of 
participation;  his  chronicle  of  vicissitudes  and  strug- 
gles and  sorrows  has  the  element  of  personal  sym- 
pathy. 

In  its  general  aspect  the  country  town  is  not  dif- 
ferent from  the  large  city.  Here  there  are  the 
same  divisions  and  strata  of  society;  the  same  social 
and  political  problems;  the  same  surges  of  ambition; 
the  same  world-old  combat  of  greed  and  power  with 
chivalry  and  self-restraint.  But  in  the  country 
town  a  common  bond  of  sympathy  runs  through  all 
the  elements  of  social  life.  In  the  last  analysis  the 
newspaper  is  a  mirror,  reflecting  the  hopes  and  aspi- 
rations, the  trials  and  tribulations  of  the  people  it 
serves.  The  country  community  is  bound  with  a 
closer  intimacy,  and  for  that  reason  the  attitude  of 
its  newspapers  is  necessarily  more  provincial  and 
paternal. 

The  environment  and  the  duties  of  the  country 
editor  tend  to  make  him  a  fair  critic  and  safe  judge 
of  men  and  measures,  for  the  nature  of  his  work 
accustoms  him  to  weigh  opinions  in  the  even  bal- 
ance.    Unlike  the  lawyer,  always  a  special  pleader, 

390 


THE  COUNTRY  EDITOR 

or  other  professional  men  confined  by  a  narrow  out- 
look on  a  single  phase  of  life,  the  editor  is  the  im- 
partial recorder  and  reviewer,  seeking  only  the  truth. 

The  lawyer  has  an  easy  road  to  fame  compared 
with  that  of  the  editor.  As  ex-President  Cleveland 
set  forth  in  his  last  article  in  The  Companion,  there 
is  an  air  of  mystery  surrounding  the  intricacies  of 
the  law.  The  exigencies  of  the  profession  require 
the  lawyer  to  be  a  ready  and  fluent  speaker,  and  this 
power  is  an  aid  to  prominence  in  public  affairs. 

There  is  nothing  mysterious  about  the  country 
editor  —  unless  it  be  the  source  of  his  income !  The 
school-teacher,  the  minister,  the  young  college  grad- 
uate, and  numerous  other  people  about  the  town 
know,  or  think  they  know,  how  to  run  a  newspaper 
better  than  does  the  editor.  He  is  not  always  given 
the  opportunity  for  training  as  a  public  speaker,  and 
the  nature  of  his  work  in  a  measure  unfits  him  for 
quick  thinking  and  clear  expression  before  people. 
His  composition  is  of  slower  process  and  is  done 
in  the  quiet  of  the  sanctum,  where  only  the  rhythmic 
throb  of  the  presses  and  the  gentle  clink  of  the  type 
are  heard. 

But  the  influence  of  the  writer  is  more  lasting 
than  that  of  the  orator,  and  even  for  temporary 
purposes  is  often  as  great. 

The  degree  of  success  in  either  case  is,  of  course, 

391 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

largely  a  matter  of  ability,  but  frequently  when  a 
community  finds  itself  in  position  to  confer  the 
mark  of  greatness  upon  one  of  its  number,  it  will 
lay  the  laureled  crown  at  the  feet  of  the  editor  — 
provided  the  lawyers  are  all  busy,  or  do  not  happen 
to  be  looking  when  the  call  comes. 

Then,  too,  the  lawyer  has  the  advantage  of  a  pro- 
fessional training,  which  seldom  is  vouchsafed  to 
the  editor.  There  is  no  school  for  country  journal- 
ism, and  the  editor  usually  acquires  his  knowledge 
and  experience  in  the  hard  school  of  the  country 
printing-office,  advancing  to  the  successive  stages  of 
the  work  as  ability  and  opportunity  allow. 

But,  after  all,  prominence  and  applause  are  not 
always  a  just  measure  of  the  success  which  men  at- 
tain; there  are  victories  along  "  the  cool  sequestered 
vale  "  no  less  important  than  the  victories  achieved 
in  "  the  madding  crowd's  ignoble  strife." 

Although  the  average  editor  is  prone  to  regard 
himself  in  the  light  of  "  a  mute,  inglorious  Milton," 
the  profession  has  contributed  very  largely  to  public 
life. 

It  has  often  been  said  that  Minnesota  is  governed 
by  the  country  editor.  This  may  not  be  strictly 
true,  but  certainly  the  "  fourth  estate "  is  more 
numerously  represented  there  in  public  place  than 
in  any  other  commonwealth. 

392 


THE  COUNTRY  EDITOR 

The  governor,  his  private  secretary  and  executive 
clerk  are  country  newspaper  men;  so  are  the  labor 
commissioner,  the  executive  agent  of  the  game  and 
fish  commission,  the  state  oil  inspector,  the  state 
librarian,  the  secretary  and  assistant  secretary  of 
state,  the  assistant  labor  commissioner,  the  state  fire 
warden,  the  assistant  fire  marshal,  the  deputy  pub- 
lic examiner,  the  secretary  of  the  dairy  and  food 
commission,  the  assistant  clerk  of  the  supreme 
court,  the  secretary  of  the  board  of  control. 

Both  political  parties  have  recognized  the  capa- 
bility of  the  country  editor  for  official  position  from 
the  earliest  history  of  the  state,  and  he  has  always 
been  an  active  force  in  legislative  councils  and  in  the 
minor  places  under  the  national  and  state  govern- 
ments. 

Then,  too,  there  is  glory  enough  in  just  being 
an  editor.  What  young  journalist  has  not  held  up 
to  his  flushed  and  eager  eye  the  editorial  page  of  his 
first  issue  and  gazed  proudly  upon  the  name  next 
preceding  the  words,  "  editor  and  proprietor  "  ? 

When  the  years  roll  by,  and  the  struggles  of  ad- 
versity are  not  always  sweetened  by  the  plums  of 
fame  and  fortune,  he  may  lose  the  elasticity  of 
youthful  pride  and  vainglory,  but  through  the  shad- 
ows there  beams  still  the  same  belief  in  the  loftiness 
of  his  profession. 

393 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

The  country  printing-office  is  prolific  of  ludicrous 
situations,  and  many  a  laugh  has  been  provoked  at 
the  expense  of  the  editor  or  reporter  uncertain  of 
his  facts.  Some  fifteen  years  ago  a  newcomer  from 
Iowa  started  a  Democratic  paper  in  a  little  town  in 
southern  Minnesota.  A  campaign  was  in  progress, 
and  a  one-legged  man,  habitually  attired  in  a  blue 
suit,  was  the  candidate  for  register  of  deeds.  It 
was  easy  to  think  of  him  as  a  veteran  of  the  Civil 
War,  and  the  local  paper  of  which  I  speak  published 
a  vigorous  eulogy  of  the  old  soldier,  urging  the 
election  of  "  the  deserving  veteran  who  left  a  limb 
on  a  Southern  battlefield,  while  fighting  valiantly 
for  his  country." 

The  chagrin  of  the  editor  may  be  imagined  when 
his  Republican  contemporary  came  out  the  next 
week  with  the  information  that  the  candidate  had 
never  been  a  soldier,  and  that  his  leg  was  taken  off 
by  a  cider-press  in  Pennsylvania  ten  years  after  the 
war  had  closed. 

The  story  is  told  that  soon  after  Chief  Justice 
Chase  assumed  the  gubernatorial  chair  in  Ohio  he 
issued  his  proclamation  appointing  a  Thanksgiving 
day.  To  make  sure  of  being  orthodox,  the  gov- 
ernor composed  his  proclamation  almost  entirely  of 
passages  from  the  Bible,  which  he  did  not  designate 
as  quotations,  assuming  that  everyone  would  recog- 

394 


THE  COUNTRY  EDITOR 

nize  them  and  admire  the  fitness  of  the  words,  as 
well  as  his  taste  in  selection. 

The  proclamation  meeting  the  eye  of  a  Demo- 
cratic editor,  he  pounced  upon  it  at  once,  and  de- 
clared that  he  had  read  it  before.  He  could  not 
say  exactly  where,  but  he  would  take  his  oath  that  it 
was  a  downright  plagiarism  from  beginning  to  end. 
That  would  have  been  a  pretty  fair  joke,  but  the 
next  day  a  Republican  editor  came  out  valiantly  in 
defense  of  the  governor,  pronounced  the  charge 
libelous,  and  challenged  any  man  living  to  produce 
one  single  line  of  the  proclamation  that  had  ap- 
peared in  print  before. 

That  venality  exists  in  the  newspaper  profession 
it  would  be  idle  to  deny.  Unfortunately,  men  have 
gained  admission  to  the  privileges  of  the  profession 
who  are  utterly  incapable  of  understanding  its  duties 
or  assuming  its  responsibilities,  and  such  men  will 
probably  continue  in  the  work,  for  no  rigid  standard 
of  moral  qualification  can  be  applied. 

But  these  are  the  excrescences  that  afflict  all  the 
higher  callings,  and  they  are  not  so  numerous  as  to 
affect  materially  the  high  standard  which  the  news- 
paper profession  as  a  whole  maintains  by  the  devo- 
tion to  duty  and  high  ideals  of  the  great  body  of  its 
members. 

The  greatest  service  the  newspaper  performs  is 

395 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

the  championship  of  measures  that  concern  the 
masses  of  the  people.  Every  good  cause  instinct- 
ively seeks  its  aid  with  absolute  confidence. 

The  rural  press,  because  of  its  more  intimate  re- 
lations to  the  community,  and  because  it  is  less  likely 
to  be  influenced  by  mercenary  or  sordid  considera- 
tions, exercises  relatively  a  deeper  influence  than  its 
more  pretentious  urban  contemporary.  The  editor 
has  opportunity  to  study  at  closer  range  the  men 
whose  fame  he  fashions,  and  is  more  independent 
and  impartial  in  the  discussion  of  public  questions. 

Like  the  other  public  agencies  which  enter  so 
largely  into  the  everyday  life  of  the  country  town, 
the  newspaper  is  reaching  for  and  attaining  a  higher 
position.  There  is  less  of  party  rancor  and  personal 
abuse.  Where  once  the  editor  regarded  his  rival 
as  an  avowed  enemy,  deserving  only  contumely  and 
hatred,  there  are  now  almost  invariably  personal 
friendship  and  a  desire  to  work  in  harmony  for  the 
common  good. 

The  country  editor  has  his  foibles  and  failings, 
along  with  the  rest  of  mankind.  He  is  human,  and 
is  likely  to  be  a  little  kind  to  the  virtues  and  blind 
to  the  faults  of  his  political  and  personal  friends. 
It  is  difficult  for  him,  as  it  is  for  other  mortals,  to 
make  general  application  of  rules  of  conduct,  for 
often  he  is  confronted  by  local  conditions  and  party 

396 


THE  COUNTRY  EDITOR 

necessities  which  dictate  a  different  course  from  that 
which  his  judgment  tells  him  ought  to  be  pursued. 
There  is  forbearance  for  these  lapses,  even  though 
they  are  indefensible. 

As  the  ethics  of  the  press  reach  a  higher  standard, 
the  public  appreciation  of  its  services  becomes  en- 
larged, and  on  the  part  of  both  editor  and  public  is 
coming  about  a  better  understanding  of  the  respon- 
sibilities, limitations  and  rights  of  the  newspaper. 
No  longer  has  it  a  brief  to  slander  and  vilify,  but  it 
has  the  right  to  criticize  people  and  policies  when 
the  public  good  warrants.  As  a  general  rule,  the 
editor  holds  his  enthusiasm  in  decent  restraint,  and 
by  fair  and  manly  rebuke  gives  the  cause  he  cham- 
pions greater  impetus  than  could  possibly  be  had 
by  the  old  methods  of  vituperation. 

The  independence  of  the  editor  has  been  a  potent 
agency  in  political  and  governmental  reforms  during 
the  past  decade.  He  no  longer  follows  his  party, 
right  or  wrong.  The  fear  of  party  ostracism  does 
not  make  afraid.  The  courageous  editor  has  taught 
general  recognition  of  the  doctrine  that  political 
parties  can  no  longer  thrust  upon  a  decent  con- 
stituency a  disreputable  candidate  or  a  dishonest 
public  measure. 

To  last  long  —  to  last  with  liberty  and  wealth  — 
is  the  greatest  problem  to  be  solved  by  the  modern 

397 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

state,  and  the  newspaper  is  and  always  will  be  in  the 
van  of  progress.  That  the  moral  uplift  everywhere 
apparent  has  reached  a  higher  and  more  general 
recognition  away  from  the  great  centers  of  popula- 
tion is  a  tribute  to  the  power  of  the  country  news- 
paper. Out  in  the  purer  air,  away  from  the  strife 
and  struggle  of  city  life,  the  people  have  more  time 
and  better  opportunity  to  measure  the  problems  that 
vex  and  fret. 

The  American  Union  has  endured,  and  will  en- 
dure so  long  as  liberty  lasts.  Its  institutions  will 
grow  and  flourish,  and  manhood  and  womanhood 
will  reach  the  highest  civilization,  because  in  this 
country  there  is  liberty  of  speech  and  action,  and 
every  incentive  to  virtue  and  honor  in  the  path  our 
fathers  blazed.  Good  and  evil,  joy  and  sorrow, 
truth  and  falsehood  will  always  exist,  but  the  heart 
of  the  great  American  public  has  ever  yearned  for 
the  better  and  brighter  way.  The  country  editor 
is  one  of  the  agencies  ever  at  work  pointing  out 
the  stars  that  shine  behind  the  clouds. 


398 


SOME    EDITORIAL    CONTRIBUTIONS    BY 
GOVERNOR  JOHNSON  TO  THE  ST.  PETER 

HERALD 

THERE  is  a  bundle  of  delight  bound  up  in 
the  sweet  word  "  home."  .  .  .  The  social 
well-being  of  society  rests  on  our  home,  and  what 
are  the  foundation  stones  of  our  homes  but  woman's 
care  and  devotion?  A  good  mother  is  worth  an 
army  of  acquaintances  and  a  true-hearted,  noble- 
minded  sister  is  more  precious  than  the  "  dear  five 
hundred  friends."  .  .  .  Distances  may  sepa- 
rate, quarrels  may  occur,  but  those  who  have 
a  capacity  to  love  anything  must  have  at  times  a 
bubbling  up  of  fond  recollections  and  a  yearning 
after  the  joys  of  bygone  days.  Every  woman  has 
a  mission  on  earth. 

Prejudice  is  the  child  of  ignorance.  It  squints 
when  it  looks  and  lies  when  it  talks. 

Conceit  is  the  most  contemptible  and  one  of  the 
most  odious  qualities  in  the  world.  It  is  vanity 
driven  from  all  other  thrifts  and  forced  to  appeal  to 
itself    for   admiration. 

399 

26 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

Never  say  you  will  do  presently  what  your  reason 
or  your  conscience  tells  you  should  be  done  now. 
No  man  ever  shaped  his  own  destiny  or  the 
destinies  of  others  wisely  and  well  who  dealt  much 
in  presentlies.  Look  at  Nature.  She  never  post- 
pones. When  the  time  arrives  for  the  buds  to  open 
they  open ;  for  the  leaves  to  fall,  they  fall.  Look 
forward.  The  shining  worlds  never  put  off  their 
risings  or  their  settings.  The  comets,  even,  er- 
ratic as  they  are,  keep  their  appointments,  and 
eclipses  are  always  punctual  to  the  minute.  There 
are  no  delays  in  any  of  the  movements  of  the 
universe  which  have  been  predetermined  by  the  abso- 
lute fiat  of  the  Creator.  Procrastination  among  the 
stars  might  involve  the  destruction  of  innumerable 
systems;  procrastination  in  the  operation  of  nature, 
in  the  operation  of  this  earth,  might  result  in 
famine,  pestilence  and  the  blotting  out  of  the  human 
race.  Man,  however,  being  a  free  agent,  can 
postpone  the  performance  of  his  duty;  and  he  does 
so  too  frequently,  to  his  own  destruction.  The 
drafts  drawn  by  Indolence  upon  the  future  are 
pretty  apt  to  be  dishonored.  Make  Now  your 
banker.  Do  not  say  you  will  economize  presently, 
for  presently  you  may  be  judged.  Bear  in  mind 
the  important  fact,  taught  alike  by  the  history  of 

400 


EDITORIAL  CONTRIBUTIONS 

nations,   rulers  and  private  individuals,  that  in  at 
least  three  cases  out  of  five,  presently  is  too  late. 

No  religion  should  be  judged  by  the  conduct  of 
those  who  profess  it.  .  .  .  Because  other  people 
do  not  live  exactly  as  we  do  is  no  indication  that 
they  are  wrong.  It  may  be  that  we  are  in  error. 
With  many  of  us  religion  is  not  even  a  cloak,  but  is 
only  an  embroidery  which  we  mistake  for  the  whole 
garment. 

Whenever  you  see  a  woman  talking  straight  at  a 
man,  and  beginning  to  nod  her  head  and  keep  time 
with  her  upraised  index  finger,  it  is  about  time  for 
somebody  to  climb  a  tree. 

The  "  knocker  "  has  no  well-defined  business  of 
his  own,  or  if  he  has  he  finds  more  pleasure  in  at- 
tending to  that  of  other  people.  He  never  looks  for 
good  in  anybody,  hence  does  not  find  it.  A  commu- 
nity with  much  of  this  element  is  most  unfortunate. 
They  retard  the  growth  of  a  city,  hinder  prosperity 
and  make  things  profanely  unpleasant  for  every- 
body else.  It  is  just  as  easy  to  push  and  pull  with 
the  crowd  as  against  it.  It  is  as  easy  to  find  good 
in  humanity  as  bad.  When  the  people  of  a  com- 
munity prosper,  your  show  to  get  on  is  better.     It 

401 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

is  a  hundred  times  better  to  be  one  of  a  crowd  of 
hustlers  than  a  fault-finding,  gossiping  knocker. 
Don't  be  a  knocker. 

Is  it  not  about  time  that  the  people  of  Minnesota 
made  a  study  of  the  tariff  question?  Minnesota 
does  not  produce  anything  that  is  protected  by  the 
tariff.  We  do  not  buy  anything  that  is  not  pro- 
tected by  the  tariff.  The  tariff  has  fostered  in- 
dustries. The  industries  have  amalgamated  into 
absolute  monopoly.  The  trust  is  the  direct  out- 
growth of  the  tariff.  The  time  may  have  been 
when  there  was  need  for  a  tariff,  but  that  time  has 
long  gone  by.  .  .  .  Viewed  from  any  stand- 
point, a  Minnesotan  owes  no  loyalty  to  a  doctrine 
that  takes  all  and  gives  nothing  in  return.  .  . 
The  tariff  made  the  trust,  and  the  removal  will  un- 
make it.  It  is  the  only  remedy,  and  the  sooner  ap- 
plied the  better. 

It  is  barely  possible  that  this  agitation  of  Cana- 
dian reciprocity  may  lead  to  Canadian  annexation. 
The  United  States  ought  to  extend  from  the  Ber- 
ing Sea  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the  very  nature 
of  our  geography  ought  to  make  the  North  Amer- 
ican one  united  country.  We  hope  to  live  long 
enough  to  see  the  realization  of  that  condition. 

402 


EDITORIAL  CONTRIBUTIONS 

We  can  share  our  pleasures  with  many  people, 
for  they  have  many  sides  and  different  aspects,  and 
are  more  intelligible;  but  our  griefs  are  all  our 
own.  They  have  their  mysteries  and  secrecies  and 
are  not  always  to  be  looked  into.  They  are  made 
up  of  remorse,  of  things  done  and  undone,  and  so 
sympathy  is  impossible  if  we  want  it.  It  is  one  of 
the  many  things  we  must  meet  alone  and  master, 
or  be  mastered,  as  we  can. 

We  love  people  because  we  see  in  them  something 
no  one  else  does ;  not  for  their  intellect  or  learning, 
because  everyone  can  see  that  kind  of  attraction, 
but  we  have  made  a  discovery  and  like  all  dis- 
coveries we  want  ownership. 

It  is  a  pretty  good  as  well  as  profitable  plan  for 
the  young  men  of  this  generation  to  keep  in  touci 
with  those  whose  hairs  are  silvering  with  age,  for 
two  score  years  ago  or  more  they  were  the  young 
men  who  hustled  in  a  new  country,  suffered  priva- 
tions, and  the  inheritance  they  have  left  us  we  are 
too  apt  to  forget.  Keep  in  touch  with  them  and 
learn  a  little  of  the  wisdom  that  comes  from  a  life 
full  of  experience. 


403 


TRIBUTES 


MEMORIAL.   CARTOONS 


406 


PRESIDENT  TAFT 

Upon  hearing  of  Governor  Johnson's  death  the 
President  telegraphed  this  message  to  Mrs.  Johnson : 

"  My  heart  goes  out  to  you  in  sympathy  in  your 
present  deep  sorrow.  Governor  Johnson  was  a  na- 
tional figure  of  great  ability,  and  great  capacity  for 
usefulness  to  his  country  as  he  had  already  demon- 
strated, and  his  loss  will  be  felt  far  beyond  the 
state  that  loved  him  so  well. 

"  I  sincerely  hope  that  the  fond  remembrance  in 
which  he  is  and  always  will  be  held  in  Minnesota 
and  elsewhere  and  the  record  of  his  high  and  valued 
public  service  may  come  as  a  boon  to  you  in  your 
sorrow  and  may  in  time  lighten  the  burden  you  are 
now  called  upon  to  bear." 
"  Limon,  Colo,  Sept.  21,  1909. 

The  President  also  made  the  following  statement 
to  the  press: 

"  The  death  of  Governor  Johnson  is  a  great  shock 
and  fills  me  with  personal  sorrow  and  with  a  deep 
sympathy  for  the  people  of  Minnesota  whose  favor- 

407 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

ite  son  he  certainly  was.  It  has  been  my  good  for- 
tune to  have  had  the  pleasantest  personal  relations 
with  the  Governor,  and  although  we  differed  polit- 
ically, we  agreed  on  a  great  many  subjects,  as  I  had 
reason  to  know  from  personal  conversations. 

"  He  was  a  wonderful  man.  He  added  to  a 
charming  personality  a  frankness  and  common  sense 
that  won  over  his  natural  political  opponents,  and 
he  made  an  able,  efficient  and  most  courageous  pub- 
lic official.  That  a  man  of  his  parts  and  of  his  ca- 
pacity for  great  public  usefulness  should  be  taken 
now  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  should  be,  and  is,  a 
source  of  national  regret,  for  had  Governor  Johnson 
lived,  his  position  in  the  state  and  country  was  such 
that  he  certainly  would  have  been  called  upon  to 
fill  an  important  place  and  to  assist  in  the  progres- 
sive movements  of  which  he  was  a  consistent  advo- 
cate." 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

"  On   Safari,   near  Mount  Elgon, 

Central  Africa,  Nov.  15,  1909. 
"  My  Dear  Mrs.  Johnson  : 

"  While  out  here,  far  from  all  chance  of  hearing 
news  with  any  speed,  I  have  just  learned  of  the 
death  of  your  honored  husband.     I  trust  you  will 

408 


TRIBUTES 

not  think  me  intrusive  if  I  write  a  word  of  respect- 
ful sympathy.  I  greatly  admired  your  husband  as 
an  upright  and  honorable  public  servant  and  as  one 
of  those  Americans  who  we  like  to  believe  are  typical 
of  our  people  as  a  whole.  He  is  a  loss  to  us  all;  a 
loss  to  good  citizenship. 

"  With  assurances  of  my  profound  sympathy  and 
respect,  believe  me, 

"  Very  sincerely  yours, 

"  Theodore  Roosevelt." 


GOVERNOR  HUGHES  OF  NEW  YORK 

"The  death  of  Governor  Johnson  is  a  national 
loss.  His  life  was  one  of  the  finest  illustrations  of 
American  opportunity  well  used.  He  was  a  man 
of  the  highest  character  and  his  administration  of 
the  office  to  which  he  was  thrice  elected,  com- 
manded the  confidence  of  the  people. 

"  His  career  was  so  extraordinary  that  it  deeply 
impressed  the  entire  country,  and  he  was  universally 
admired  and  respected.  The  people  of  the  state  of 
New  York  and  of  the  other  states  will  join  with 
the  people  of  Minnesota  in  mourning  his  untimely 
end." 


409 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

GOVERNOR  MARSHALL  OF  INDIANA 

"  The  life  of  John  A.  Johnson  discloses  again  the 
wonderful  possibilities  for  the  making  of  real  suc- 
cess in  America.  Many  have  been  able  to  succeed 
for  a  little  while,  politically,  many  have  been  loud  in, 
their  protestations  of  belief  in  our  system  of  gov- 
ernment ;  it  has  been  the  few  who  were  always  con- 
scious of  the  rights  of  others  that  have  lived  in 
history  and  have  influenced  for  good  the  Republic. 

"  Among  this  select  few  will  ever  be  John  A. 
Johnson.  He  started  poor  in  purse  but  rich  in  char- 
acter; he  ended,  humanly  speaking,  richer  yet  in 
character  because  he  was  willing  to  give  more  to 
the  world  than  he  took  from  it.  His  life  will  be 
an  unseen  yet  ever  present  inspiration  to  all  the  men 
and  boys  of  America  who  believe  that  justice  and 
mercy  and  charity,  cannot  be  disassociated  from  the 
affairs  of  government." 


GOVERNOR  DENEEN  OF  ILLINOIS 

"  The  career  of  Governor  Johnson  marked  him  as 
one  of  the  great  men  of  the  country  and  illustrated 
the  possibility  of  advancement  afforded  by  the  free 
and  equal  opportunities  of  our  system  of  govern- 

410 


TRIBUTES 

ment.  At  an  early  age  he  was  obliged  by  circum- 
stances to  assume  responsibilities  far  beyond  his 
years  and  displayed  sterling  elements  of  personal 
character  which  enabled  him  to  rise  in  his  commu- 
nity to  positions  of  trust  and  confidence.  With  his 
entry  into  political  life  his  superior  native  force  of 
will  and  of  intellect  asserted  themselves  and  he 
speedily  rose  to  his  proper  level  among  the  foremost 
men  of  his  party,  his  state  and  his  country.  Gov- 
ernor Johnson  enjoyed  to  an  unusual  degree  the  con- 
fidence of  his  fellow-citizens  in  his  home  state  and  in 
the  nation  at  large.  His  early  death  cut  off  a  life 
still  rich  in  promise  and  full  of  inspiration  to 
American  youth. 

"  The  lessons  to  be  learned  from  such  a  life  are 
too  valuable  to  be  lost  and  I  am  glad  to  know  that 
his  biography  is  to  be  published  for  the  benefit  of 
American  readers." 

GOVERNOR  HARMON  OF  OHIO 

"  The  people  of  Minnesota  have  made  superfluous 
all  tribute  to  Governor  Johnson  except  their  own. 
His  first  election  might  have  been  due  to  impulse  or 
caprice  or  to  discontent  with  conditions.  Its  double 
repetition,  emphasized  by  contrast  with  results  as  to 
other  candidates,  was  a  positive  declaration  that  they 

411 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

found  in  him  the  qualities  which  a  people  conduct- 
ing government  for  themselves  require  in  their  offi- 
cers—  vigilance,  fearlessness,  singleness  of  un- 
selfish purpose  to  protect  and  further  the  public  wel- 
fare, with  the  sagacity  to  know  and  the  ability  to  do 
the  various  tasks  which  duty  imposes." 


GOVERNOR  HADLEY  OF  MISSOURI 

"  On  behalf  of  the  people  of  Missouri  and  my- 
self, I  extend  to  you  and  the  people  of  Minnesota 
our  sincere  sympathy  in  your  great  affliction.  Gov- 
ernor Johnson's  life  and  public  service  gave  a  new 
inspiration  to  the  possibilities  of  American  citizen- 
ship and  a  new  standard  in  the  performance  of  offi- 
cial duties." 


GOVERNOR  CARROLL  OF  IOWA 

"  As  executive  of  a  sister  state,  I  wish  to  extend 
the  sympathy  of  Iowa  to  the  citizens  of  Minnesota; 
to  mourn  with  them,  for  the  loss  in  death  of  Gov- 
ernor Johnson  is  not  confined  to  their  state  alone, 
but  to  the  entire  Central  West,  for  which  he  was  a 
noble  champion." 


412 


TRIBUTES 

ANDREW  CARNEGIE 

"  Governor  Johnson  was  one  of  those  rare  men 
who  could  not  help  making  an  impression  upon  one 
instantly;  a  few  words  and  you  felt  your  brain  say 
to  itself,  as  it  were,  '  This  is  no  ordinary  man.  He 
has  a  future  before  him  if  he  is  spared.'  Subse- 
quent intercourse  fully  justified  the  estimate  and  I 
remember  the  thought  came, — '  We  are  to  hear  more 
of  this  man  in  the  immediate  future.  There  is 
presidential  timber  in  him/  After  a  comparison 
of  views,  in  which  we  found  so  much  in  common, 
we  parted,  and  one  morning  when  in  Scotland,  I 
saw  the  announcement  of  his  untimely  death. 

"  My  first  meeting  with  Governor  Johnson  was 
when  he  called  upon  me  in  New  York  to  lay  before 
me  the  claims  of  educational  institutions  in  his 
state. 

"  We  can  comfort  ourselves  by  the  thought  that 
up  to  the  day  of  his  death  his  record  resembled  that 
of  Lincoln  up  to  the  time  he  was  nominated  for  the 
presidency, —  a  man  of  the  people  who  went  to  the 
hearts  of  the  people.  The  presidency  seemed  to  be 
within  his  grasp  whenever  the  Democratic  Party 
triumphed.  To-day  when  I  think  of  Minnesota 
without  its  Democratic  governor  for  that  Republican 
state,  my  heart  is  heavy.     Such  is  human  life." 

413 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

ARCHBISHOP  IRELAND 

"  Rightly  does  Minnesota  mourn  the  death  of 
John  Albert  Johnson.  Seldom  has  there  arisen 
among  her  people  a  nobler  and  more  fascinating 
type  of  American  citizenship. 

"  The  good  man  he  was,  and,  no  less,  the  richly 
gifted.  In  private  life,  he  was  the  man  without  re- 
proach; in  public  life,  he  was  the  earnest,  the  con- 
scientious servant  of  the  public  welfare.  In  his 
whole  career  he  was  the  honor  of  American  democ- 
racy —  a  striking  example,  in  the  upward  strides 
of  personal  merit,  of  what  democracy  permits,  of 
what  it  has  the  power  to  create,  the  sincere  will  to 
foster. 

"  It  is  a  pathetic  story,  that  of  his  going  away 
when  success,  the  reward  of  past  doings,  was  beck- 
oning him  onward  to  yet  higher  success  on  wider 
fields  of  action.  But  we  bow  to  the  mysterious 
counsels  of  Providence,  whom  in  the  measure  of  his 
lights  he  obeyed,  to  whose  merciful  decrees  we  lov- 
ingly remit  him." 

THOMAS  LAWSON 

"  Yesterday  and  yesterdays,  when  the  sun's  red- 
brown  halo  blended  my  hollyhocks  and  sunflowers 
to  nodding  evening  gods,  he  used  to  loom,  a  soulful, 

414 


TRIBUTES 

heart-loving  inspiration.  From  my  garden's  twi- 
light quiet  I  have  often  visioned  him,  this  tall  sway- 
ing pine  of  the  West,  and  the  visioning  peopled  my 
world  with  times  and  things  and  men  long,  long 
since  dead  and  dust,  and  these  times  and  things  and 
men  glowed  the  heart  and  soothed  the  soul  and 
clarified  the  mind  and  made  for  love  of  good 
and  for  shame  of  petty  meanness  and  sordid  hatred. 

"  When  I  say  this  I  mean  the  man.  No  human 
ever  entered  the  atmosphere  of  John  Johnson  with- 
out being  better.  He  was  indeed  a  man,  and  made 
in  the  image  of  his  God.  Mothers  gazed  upon  his 
mother  and  prayed  their  sons  might  be  in  his  mold ; 
and  the  children  and  the  dogs  and  the  flowers  and 
God's  good  earth  beamed  and  laughed  and  warmed 
when  his  presence  came. 

"  Ah,  but  he  was  such  a  man,  such  a  good  man. 

"  I  saw  him  on  the  field,  in  the  tent  and  in  the 
orchards,  where  the  great  ripe,  juicy,  golden  plums 
of  man-wealth  hung  low  and  vainly  screamed  for 
plucking,  and  I  sat  with  him  by  the  hour  in  his  office 
of  state  while  his  mind  romped  in  freedom  and  his 
long  legs  crossed  and  uncrossed  themselves  over  the 
corner  of  the  desk  upon  which  the  freemen  of  a 
great  western  empire  laid  honor's  offering.  I  have 
ridden  with  him  the  hot  day  through  in  the  dusty, 
nerve-racking  railroad  train  and  I  have  been  with 

415 

27 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

him  when  he  listened  to  the  fealty  message  of  the 
leaders  of  his  party,  which  cooed  about  that  crown 
and  throne  which  is  the  dream  of  all  red-blooded 
Americans;  and  I  have  brought  him  the  taunt  of  his 
great  rival  and  yet  in  all  them  never  saw  that  childish 
merry  twinkle  leave  those  wonderfully  love-beget- 
ting eyes  and  I  never  heard  a  discord  in  that  voice 
of  trust  and  faith  and  charity  and  good  will  to  all. 

"  John  Johnson's  vision  was  all  outward.  He 
had  no  mirror  and  had  he  one  he  would  have  held 
it  to  reflect  the  beauties  and  the  goodnesses  of  his 
fellows. 

"  The  other  evening,  Erman  Ridgeway,  his  good 
wife  and  myself  were  in  the  bus  with  this  great  man 
on  our  way  to  hear  him  lecture.  We  had  had  a 
good  dinner  and  he  was  snuggled  into  the  corner 
muffled  in  his  big  fur  coat  and  we  thought  he 
wanted  to  be  alone  to  tell  over  his  great  speech, 
when,  as  he  neared  the  church  where  his  lecture  was 
to  be  delivered,  he  said  : 

"  '  I  am  nervous  to-night,  Lawson,  for  I  am  going 
to  make  my  lecture  the  simple  story  of  how  I  par- 
doned a  boy  and  gave  him  back  to  his  old  mother 
and  father.  I  want  you  to  hear  it,  but  I  know  I'll 
cry  and  make  a  country  booby  of  myself,  and  then 
these  eastern  people  will  wonder  what  my  great 
state  was  thinking  of  in  electing  such  a  governor.' 

416 


TRIBUTES 

"  It  was  a  big  audience,  big  in  intelligence,  big  in 
sympathy  with  this  latter-day  Abe  Lincoln  of  the 
people,  and  Governor  Johnson  told  his  story  and  the 
tears  trickled  down  his  cheeks  and  his  gentle  voice 
was  gentler  than  its  wont.  But  we,  his  audience, 
yes,  all  of  us,  men,  women  and  children,  we  cried, 
just  laid  back  and  let  go  in  one  of  those  heart- 
relieving,  don't-give-a-picayune-who-sees-us  sobbing 
outbursts,  and  at  the  close  of  the  story  I  said  to 
the  big,  strong,  mannish  governor  of  New  Jersey, 
who  had  sat  with  bowed  head  as  John  Johnson,  the 
man,  told  the  simple  story  of  how  Governor  Johnson 
of  the  great  state  of  Minnesota  gave  their  boy  back 
to  the  old  father  and  mother. 

"  '  Governor,  I  noticed  that  you,  too,  forgot  that 
Governor  Johnson  was  of  the  enemy.' 

"  '  Yes,  yes,  I  forgot  everything  but  the  story  and 
the  man  who  was  telling  it,'  and  he  tried  to  sneak 
away  the  trail  the  story  had  left  on  his  cheek ;  '  and 
if  all  Democrats  were  like  Governor  Johnson  there 
would  be  no  enemy.' 

"  That  night  at  Ridgeway's  house,  after  the  fam- 
ily had  retired,  I  sat  in  front  of  the  open  grate  with 
this,  the  all-around  best  big  man  I  have  ever  met, 
until  the  gray  dawn  was  tapping  at  the  panes,  and 
time  and  time  again  as  I  listened  to  his  clear  analy- 
sis of  times  and  things  and  humans  and  their  good- 

417 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

nesses  I  would  break  in  and  try  to  make  him  put  on 
my  smoked  glasses  and  see  the  out-there  black,  but 
he  met  each  attempt  with  his  merry  laugh. 

;  Yes,  I  will  agree  that  there  is  lots  that  might 
be  made  better,  but,  on  the  whole,  Lawson,  it  is  a 
good  world  and  a  good  people.  I  can  never  bring 
myself  to  believe  but  the  world  and  the  people  are 
getting  better  all  the  time.' 

''  Ah,  but  he  was  such  a  man,  such  a  good  man. 

"  God  was  good  to  John  Johnson.  He  endowed 
him  with  all  those  riches  which  make  for  happiness, 
here  and  hereafter.  Birthed  from  the  womb  of  the 
common  people,  cradled  in  that  greatest  of  all  world 
luxuries,  poverty,  he  came  to  the  starting  line  a 
moral  Hercules,  bursting  with  the  love  of  mother 
and  adoration  of  wife,  bristling  with  affection  for 
humanity  and  charity  and  forgiveness  for  his  ene- 
mies, and  muscled  with  a  superb  honesty  and  ven- 
eration for  God  and  nature.  The  starter's  bell  was 
to  him  a  joyful  '  Go.'  As  he  ran  he  saw  no  mire, 
no  boulders,  no  ditches,  only  God's  great  blue  sky. 
He  felt  only  God's  warming  sun  rays,  and  as  he  ran 
for  them,  not  himself,  it  is  no  wonder  his  track  was 
fast  and  his  feet  winged. 

"  God  was  good  to  Governor  Johnson.  He  took 
him  as  he  took  the  sainted  Lincoln  and  all  his  very 
chosen,  while  yet  they  ran,  while  yet  their  fellows 

418 


TRIBUTES 

cheered,  while  yet  their  souls  were  radiant  with  in- 
toxication of  ambition's  rays. 

"  To  us  who  were  blessed  with  the  privilege  of 
his  presence  is  left  the  consolation  that  he  was,  and 
is  yet.  Let  us  rain  our  tears,  but  not  for  him.  Let 
us  weep  for  her  whose  sun  is  set  and  for  the  nation 
which  so  sorely  needs  her  valiant  sons,  and  for  hu- 
manity, whose  champion  has  gone  over  yonder. 
For  myself  my  sadness  is  mellowed  by  the  thought 
that  I  know  him,  and  by  the  faith  that  his  shadow 
will  for  ages  be  a  dream-cradle  for  countless  de- 
spairing souls. 

"  Ah,  but  he  was  such  a  man,  such  a  good  man. 

"  Boston,  Mass.,  Sept.  21,  1909." 


419 


GROVER   CLEVELAND'S    ESTIMATE   OF 
GOVERNOR   JOHNSON 

FROM  A  LETTER  WRITTEN  BY  GROVER  CLEVELAND  TO 
E.  PRENTISS  BAILEY,  EDITOR  OF  THE  UTICA  (N. 
Y. )  OBSERVER.  THE  LAST  LONG  LETTER  OF  IM- 
PORTANCE CLEVELAND  WROTE 

I  CANNOT  rid  myself  of  the  idea  that  our 
party,  which  has  withstood  so  many  clashes 
with  our  political  opponents,  is  not  doomed  at  this 
time  to  sink  to  a  condition  of  useless  and  lasting 
decadence.  In  my  last  letter  to  you  I  expressed 
myself  as  seeing  some  light  ahead  for  Democracy. 
I  cannot  help  feeling  at  this  time  that  the  light  is 
still  brighter.  It  does  seem  to  me  that  movements 
have  set  in  motion  which,  though  not  at  the 
present  time  of  large  dimensions,  promise  final  re- 
lief from  the  burden  which  has  so  long  weighed  us 
down. 

I  have  lately  come  to  the  conclusion  that  our  best 
hope  rests  upon  the  nomination  of  Johnson  of  Min- 
nesota. The  prospects  to  my  mind  appear  as  bright 
with   him  as   our  leader  as   with   any  other,   and 

420 


TRIBUTES 

whether  we  meet  with  success  or  not,  I  believe  with 
such  a  leader  we  shall  take  a  long  step  in  the  way 
of  returning  to  our  old  creed  and  the  old  policies 
and  the  old  plans  of  organization  which  have  here- 
tofore led  us  to  victory. 


421 


GREENHILL    CEMETERY 

THOUSANDS  of  tributes  and  memorials  to 
Governor  Johnson  were  published  in  the 
newspapers  and  magazines  in  the  weeks  imme- 
diately following  his  death.  None  was  more 
pathetic  than  that  written  by  "  The  Lookout," 
Keith  Clark,  in  the  St.  Paul  Dispatch,  which  is 
herewith  given  in  full : 

This  cemetery  of  Greenhill  lies  on  the  hills  of  the 
Minnesota  Valley,  high  above  the  little  city  of  St. 
Peter  and  far  back  from  it.  It  is  an  old  burying 
ground,  a  God's  acre,  set  apart  from  the  farm  acres 
round  about  more  than  fifty  years  ago.  It  is  the 
first  burial  ground  for  the  town  which  lies  below,  as 
it  is  the  first  witness  to  the  intention  of  men  in 
this  corner  of  the  then  wilderness  to  be  permanent. 
Without  death  and  burial  there  can  be  no  sense  of 
the  abiding. 

It  is  little  more  than  an  acre,  just  a  little  saved 
out  of  the  wheat  lands  hereabout,  because,  perhaps, 
the  men  of  the  wilderness  had  little  thought  of 
dying,  and,  dead,  they  fain  would  lie  near  together, 

422 


TRIBUTES 

that  the  wilderness  might  not  press  so  close  about 
them  when  living  man  had  withdrawn  to  his  habita- 
tions below. 

You  may  walk  all  about  this  Greenhill  in  a  very 
few  minutes,  and  see  all  the  gravestones  where 
they  stand,  simple  ones,  not  one  pretentious  — 
scarce  one  more  pretentious  than  another.  There 
are  the  thin  headstones  of  a  coarse  marble,  with  the 
plain  carvings  of  fifty  years  ago,  the  slender  shafts 
of  a  later  day,  and  the  square  stones  of  still  later. 
But  not  one  announces  a  condition  in  life  differing 
from  its  fellows,  any  more  than  in  death.  Death 
is  the  final  democracy.  And  I  am  not  certain  but 
that  it  is  the  only  democracy,  the  only  possible 
democracy. 

And  a  true  democrat,  a  man  of  the  people,  might 
well  choose  to  be  buried  in  this,  so  serene  and  un- 
ambitious place.  I  have  seen  other  cemeteries  that 
were  more  beautiful;  that  one  near  Rome  of  which 
Shelley  said  after  Keat's  death,  that  it  would  "  make 
one  half  in  love  with  death  to  think  of  being  buried 
in  so  sweet  a  place."  But  there  is,  after  all,  an 
aristocracy  about  beauty.  And  Greenhill  is  only 
serene  and  unambitious. 

It  must  be  a  very  beautiful  place,  however,  to- 
night, as  the  moon  that  shines  down  on  the  place 
where  Qcsar's  heart  is  drifting  dust,  shines  on  this 

423 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

humble  grave  of  the  West,  where  a  statesman  with 
more  than  Caesar's  power  —  for  it  has  been  the 
power  of  love  —  sleeps  out  his  last  sleep.  The 
wind  steals  quietly  among  the  branches  of  the  pines, 
as  it  whispers  among  the  yew  trees  in  that  "  English 
country  churchyard "  where  elegies  were  written 
and  again,  I  find  this  Greenhill  fuller  of  the  elegiac 
spirit  in  the  murmured  grief  of  a  great  multitude, 
than  was  ever  Gray's  Stoke  Pogis. 

I  have  never  seen  but  one  graveyard  in  the  moon- 
light, the  place  where  Disraeli,  the  English  premier, 
a  Jew,  lies  buried.  Yet  I  find  not  his  grave,  there 
at  Hughenden,  to  hold  a  stranger  history  than  this 
one  which  houses  the  history  of  one  who  also  was 
alien,  and  yet  entirely  life  of  our  life. 

Yet  it  was  rather  of  Gray's  graveyard  that  one 
thought : 

"  The  curfew  tolls  the  knell  of  parting  day, 
The  lowing  herds  wind  slowly  o'er  the  lea, 

The  ploughman  homeward  plods  his  weary  way, 
And  leaves  the  world  to  darkness  and  to  me." 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  multitudes,  the  hundreds 
and  hundreds  of  people  that  thronged  Greenhill,  the 
place  would  have  been  of  the  very  spirit  of  elegy  — 
even  though  the  thought  were  very  far  from  that 
of  "  a  youth  to  fortune  and  to  fame  unknown  r 

424 


TRIBUTES 

For  when  the  funeral  train  wound  slowly  up  the 
hill,  after  the  long  hours  of  lying  in  state  in  the 
home  church,  while  the  bells  tolled,  every  bell  in 
town  of  every  denomination,  and  civic  as  well  as 
ecclesiastic  —  and  while  the  cannon  solemnly  re- 
verberated through  the  valley  the  last  governor's 
salute,  and  vale,  after  acclaim  and  ave  —  twilight 
was  coming  down,  over  the  great  watching  State 
of  Minnesota,  over  this  lovely  valley  and  this  green 
hillside.  The  sun  hung  just  above  the  horizon's 
edge,  and  long  dusk  shadows  of  the  evergreen  trees 
fell  athwart  the  sunlight,  where  it  lay  lovingly  on 
the  green  grass,  down  the  aisles  drawn  between 
these  final  tenements.  Far  down  the  valley,  where 
the  river  runs,  the  land  was  growing  dark,  and 
purple  shadows  dimmed  the  farther  hills. 

It  was  a  moment  to  make  one  all  in  love  with 
death  —  death  which  here  grew  so  like  his  brother, 
sleep,  serene  and  unambitious.  Against  the  fevered 
fret  of  the  world  there  must  ever  hereafter  play  the 
quiet  and  the  finality  of  this  moment,  for  anyone 
who  lived  it. 

"I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life  — 
Dust  to  dust,  ashes  to  ashes  — " 

A  voice  stole  against  the  awful  stillness,  and  yet 
the  people  did  not  move,  seemed  not  even  to  breathe. 

42  5 


JOHN  ALBERT  JOHNSON 

It  was  a  voice  from  out  the  quiet,  a  message  and  a 
conclusion,  which  all  must  hear  sometimes  for 
others,  sometime  for  himself. 

The  militia  fired  a  "  last  shot,"  the  bugle  sounded 
taps,  "All  is  well,  speed  thee  now  to  thy  rest." 
And  the  night  had  come  down. 

I  remember  another  cemetery,  that  in  the  Latin 
Quartier  of  Paris,  of  Montparnasse.  In  it  is  the 
grave  of  Guy  de  Maupassant.  Upon  a  table  of 
stone  there  rests  an  iron  book;  the  book  lies  open 
and  on  one  page  is  the  date  of  the  birth  and  on  the 
other  the  date  of  his  death.  These  lie  open.  But 
the  rest  is  of  iron  and  closed;  all  that  went  before 
and  all  that  comes  after. 

This  is  not  life.     It  is  but  to  have  lived. 

The  lesson  from  Greenhill  will  not  be  that  of 
Montparnasse.  The  book  may  not  lie  open,  except 
between  1861  and  1909.  Yet  the  life  gathers  up 
the  simple  true  living  of  all  lowly  souls,  growing 
into  great  achievements ;  and  it  shall  go  on  and  on 
through  the  centuried  pages  that  are  to  come  after- 
ward. Life  is  never  lived  if  only  in  the  pages  which 
may  be  turned;  if  that,  it  is  not  lived. 

And  so  the  moon  keeps  perpetual  guard,  to-night 
and  all  the  nights,  over  the  grave  in  Greenhill  that 
must  all  too  soon,  such  are  the  necessities  of  life 
and  death,  become  a  lonely  grave.     And  yet,  be- 

426 


TRIBUTES 

cause  his  life  is  a  symbol  of  the  life  we  all  would 
live,  simple  in  beginning,  splendid  in  doing,  and 
rich  in  human  service,  the  grave  on  this  green  hill 
cannot  be  forgotten,  can  never  be  far  away.  Green- 
hill,  serene  and  unambitious,  one  of  the  smallest  of 
those  small  graveyards  that,  the  country  over, 
glimpse  upon  the  sight  from  passing  train,  becomes 
a  large  and  memorable  place.  It  will  never  be 
visited  by  accident,  for  it  lies  away  from  any  beaten 
track  of  highway  travel,  even  of  the  little  city.  A 
sheltered  spot  it  is,  fit  to  house  a  symbol  of  what 
Minnesota  has  meant  and  can  mean. 


427 


THE  DEEP,  SAD  EYES 

ON    CONTEMPLATING   A   PORTRAIT   OF   JOHN   ALBERT 

JOHNSON 

By  John  Talman 

Fixed  dreamily  perchance  on  shadowland, 

Whence  mystic  visions  rise, 
And  fragrant  air  by  elfin  pinions  fanned  — 

The  deep,  sad  eyes. 

Depths  fathomless  as  oceans  in  them  lie, 

And  light  and  somber  moods, 
Tenderness  patient,  and  devotion  high 

As  motherhood's. 

O,  deep,  sad  eyes !     Returnlessly  withdrawn 

From  life  tide's  ebb  and  flow 
To  where  old  suns  go  down  or  new  ones  dawn. 

What  see  they  now  ? 

Note  they  fulfillment  of  dear  longings  such 

As  the  believer  bless, 
Or  are  they  veiled  forever  at  the  touch 

Of  nothingness? 

428 


TRIBUTES 

Being  admired,  beloved  and  revered ! 

How  can  we  give  thee  up ! 
Fate  cruel  in  whose  hand  for  us  appeared 

This  bitter  cup! 

Till  Time  shall  compass  destiny  no  more, 

The  winds  of  heaven  free, 
The  vibrant  ocean  and  the  curving  shore 

Shall  speak  of  thee. 

The  dews,  the  rains,  the  wintry  blast,  the  snows, 

The  bird,  the  toiling  bee, 
The  master  oak,  the  willow  and  the  rose 

Shall  speak  of  thee. 

Children's  rejoicing,  man's  endeavor  high 

And  woman's  constancy, 
The  field  and  forest,  mountain-top  and  sky 

Shall  speak  of  thee. 

Till  the  unwearied  Reaper  shall  unwind 

The  last  of  human  ties, 
On  us,  through  joy  and  pain,  shall  rest  the  kind 

And  deep,  sad  eyes. 

Empires  may  vanish,  bitterly  be  paid 

The  cost  of  sacrifice, 
Or  great  our  gains ;  but  ne'er  for  us  can  fade 

The  deep,  sad  eyes ! 

429 


AN   APPRECIATION 

BY    GOVERNOR    JOHNSON'S    SUCCESSOR 

GOVERNOR    EBERHART   OF    MINNESOTA 

Governor  Johnson's  early  life,  his  struggles  in 
adversity,  his  triumph  over  all  obstacles,  and  his 
attainment  to  a  place  unique  in  American  politics, 
these  should  make  a  narrative  which  will  be  an  in- 
spiration to  the  young  men  and  women  of  our  state 
and  country .  Minnesota  in  Governor  Johnson  pre- 
sented to  the  people  of  the  nation  a  character 
lovable  yet  strong,  kindly  yet  virile,  facile  yet 
true.  His  ideals  were  those  which  should  inspire 
every  true  American  citizen  and  bring  him  to  a 
closer  appreciation  of  the  opportunities  in  this 
great  American  republic  for  one  who  sets  his 
vision  high  and  wide. 


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